AtricleZine - Business

In Division There is Opportunity
Unless companies adopt an holistic approach to security that focuses on building and fostering a culture of honesty and integrity, GAP’s will appear in their defenses and in their ability to perform their mission of selling their products and services. Once GAP’s are exposed, they can be exploited for the personal gain of the individual(s) exposing them. Once this occurs, the only question remaining will be; can you cope with the crisis being caused and to what extent is "damage control" required. Insurium has the solution www.insurium.comIn order, to adequately protect your corporate assets (People, Property, Income and Reputation), companies need to understand what they are exposed to. This requires a corporate understanding that integrates business and technological perspectives. When we speak of risks associated with assets, we need to evaluate all risks and incorporate these risks

ities to reinforce positive behavior and performance:

1. Prevent "Bucket Dipping": Increase your own awareness of how often your comments are negative. How much "bucket filling" do you do compared to others? Do you have low impact, some impact, or high impact on your environment? To find out, take the quick Positive Impact Assessment: http://gx.gallup.com/dipper.gx

2. Track Your Positive/Negative Ratio. Think about your most recent inter-actions with others. Were they more positive or more negative? Did you give someone a compliment, or did you choose to make a negative comment instead? Work toward a ratio of five positive comments to every one negative comment. Check out http://www.bucketbook.com/content/default.aspx?ci=12214 for an Interaction Scorecard to tally your positive/negative comments.

3. Shine the Light on What Is Right. Focus MORE on what your people or peers do right rather than where they need improvement. Don't underestimate the power of reinforcing good behaviors.

4. Know Your People's Preference. To help you make each positive interaction individualized and specific, take a look at the questions in the Bucket Filling Interview Guide:

http:www.bucketbook.com. My favorite questions include: What increases your positive emo

You Are Lucky in Your Career!
You Are Lucky in Being Satisfied in Your CareerJust for fun let's you and I, reader, consider that you are satisifed with your current career.It's good to find out why. You have a good boss, good hours, good benefits and have a great chance of being promoted soon. You are lucky and fortunate. What are you doing for yourself that this good fate will continue? Are you preparing yourself for that promotion? How?One thing you might consider is to informally poll your co-workers about your performance. No, this does not mean that you set up a questionnaire about "how you're doing" or set up an artificial meeting or conversation about yourself. An informal way of measuring yourself can be: Are you informed about the latest personal gossip? Do your co-workers come to you with questions about procedures? Do they invite you to lunch, include you in non-work a

"PRAISE LOUDLY, BLAME SOFTLY" - Catherine the Great

In a Leadership position, the pressure to perform is ceaseless. Hitting your numbers. Achieving your goals. Meeting your metrics. That's what's expected quarter after quarter. But, why is the race getting more intense? Why does each day seem like a perpetual revved-up Indianapolis 500? And, why is it that the pressure you are getting from above, that you send below and place within, seems to be getting "louder, longer, meaner"? That's what Aubrey Daniels, in his performance management bible Bringing Out the Best in People, contends. We're all hearing and sending the same messages:

Work harder.
Work faster.
Work smarter.
Be more creative.
Take more initiative.

And, if we don't get the desired results, we tell the same people again, usually the same thing. This time a little louder, or longer, or perhaps a little meaner.

Is this sounding vaguely familiar? If so, it's probably the right time for a quickie refresher on the ONE unbelievably simple thing you can do as a leader to keep your peoples' momentum and engagement soaring and ease the strain of relentless pressure.

PRAISE – A Management Tool Honest, genuine praise. The stuff that NONE of us gets nearly enough of. Especially those sitting in the board room.

The Power of Positive Praise: Fast Facts * The number-one reason people leave their jobs: They don't feel appreciated.

* Sixty-five percent (65%) of Americans received no recognition in the workplace last year.

* Bad bosses could increase the risk of stroke by 33%.

* A study found that negative employees can scare off every customer they speak with -- for good.

* Nine out of 10 people say they are more productive when they're around positive people.

* Extending longevity: Increasing positive emotions could lengthen life span by 10 years.

Performance Management Tip -- Be Nice: It's Good for Business

In their book How Full is Your Bucket, co-authors Tom Rath and Don Clifton draw on Gallup research and millions of interviews to show that positive give-and-take leads to higher worker satisfaction and productivity and a happier world. Most of us already recognize that fact. What we seem to forget is that we can deliberately choose to make our interactions positive or negative. And, we have twenty thousand moments in a given day, according to Rath, to exercise that choice. If 65% of people received no recognition for good work in their workplaces, clearly, there aren't enough positive moments or interactions happening in the workplace.

The financial aspects of positivity are just as compelling, says Rath. "Gallup polling has revealed that 99 out of 100 people say they want a more positive environment at work, and 9 out of 10 say they're more productive when they're around positive people. Employees who report receiving recognition and praise within the last seven days show increased productivity, get higher scores from customers, and have better safety records. They're just more engaged at work. On the other hand, people who are actively disengaged -- employees who are not only unhappy with their own roles, but are also scaring customers off -- cost the economy between $250 billion and $300 billion a year. And when we add injury, illness, turnover, and other factors associated with negativity or active disengagement, the cost could be closer to a trillion dollars, and that's nearly 10% of the U.S. GDP."

The Bottom Line: What Positive Leaders Achieve Indeed, the litmus test of a positive leader is the esprit de corps he creates with his troops, says the Gallup folks. Positive leaders deliberately increase the flow of positive emotions within their organization. They choose to do this not just because it is a "nice" thing to do for the sake of improving morale, but because it leads to a measurable increase in performance. Studies show that organizational leaders who share positive emotions have workgroups with:

• A more positive mood
• Enhanced job satisfaction
• Greater engagement
• Improved performance

What differentiates positive leaders from the rest? Instead of being concerned with what they can get out of their employees, positive leaders search for opportunities to invest in everyone who works for them. They view each interaction with another person as an opportunity to increase his or her positive emotions.

Shary Hauer’s Executive Coaching ADVICE: Five Strategies to Vibrate Resonance

In Management Training, did anyone tell you that one of your top jobs as leader is Climate Control Officer? That means you have to keep a constant look-out to reduce negativity, fear, apathy, silent compliance and other dissonant signals seeping into your organization. Know how to read the engagement levels of your team. Are you picking up on low energy signals? Tune in more closely to your team's "emotional register" and find ways to amplify an upbeat, positive climate.

Here are several strategies to help you keep a constant look-out for opportunities to reinforce positive behavior and performance:

3. Shine the Light on What Is Right. Focus MORE on what your people or peers do right rather than where they need improvement. Don't underestimate the power of reinforcing good behaviors.

4. Know Your People's Preference. To help you make each positive interaction individualized and specific, take a look at the questions in the Bucket Filling Interview Guide:

http:www.bucketbook.com. My favorite questions include: What increases your positive emo

Storytelling For High Concept And High Touch
After hearing Daniel Pink speak about his new book A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age for the fourth time, I finally read it cover to cover (less than a day). I finally got what he's talking about when he says jobs that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that builds relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or B2C. To that end, he advocates that we incorporate more storytelling into our relationships, that we make a point with a story, not just facts which everyone knows they need but still find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember. He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics distinguishing stories from facts:Facts illuminate..........Stories amuseFacts reveal..............Stories divertFacts are for real........Stories are for coverWith the easy access to facts ho

ly enough of. Especially those sitting in the board room.