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41 questions every business leader should ask (The Invisible Thread)

41 questions every business leader should ask (The Invisible Thread)
Change is the only constant in the world, there’s no doubt about it. Today more than ever, businesses must face – and effectively manage – rising change and complexity. Uncertainty is everywhere we look. From marketplace shifts to surprise disruptions, managing this new reality is not an easy task. If you think about our organizations today, they are all part of a dynamic business network of relationships with customers, partners and suppliers that shape the way we do business. Consumer expectations are escalating and competitors and partners of any size can arise from anywhere around the globe. Bottom line is that the time is up for sitting on the sidelines. As you consider the processes that make your business run, here are 41 key questions you should ask yourself: Does your organization change effectively when it needs to? Tags: ceo business-agility business-leader featured change questions cio agile cto complexity it-leader

How to pick a co-founder &045; Venture Hacks Naval · November 12th, 2009 Update: Also see our 40-minute interview on this topic. Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. It’s more important than your product, market, and investors. The ideal founding team is two individuals, with a history of working together, of similar age and financial standing, with mutual respect. The power of two Two is the right number — avoid the three-body problem. One founder companies can work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg). Two founders works because unanimity is possible, there are no founder politics, interests can easily align, and founder stakes are high post-financing. Someone you have history with You wouldn’t marry someone you’d just met. One builds, one sells The best builders can prototype and perhaps even build the entire product, end-to-end. The seller doesn’t have to be a “salesman” or “business guy”. Aligned motives required Pay close attention — true motivations are revealed, not declared. Don’t settle Pick “nice” guys

Create a Killer Business Plan - Martha Stewart Community You've got the idea, now package it well! The way you present your company and vision will determine whether you get the right financial partners and the right deal. Marketing Your IdeaLife is marketing. We're constantly being pitched to as consumers, yet we also market our products, our ideas, and ourselves personally and professionally. As a former entrepreneur and a start-up consultant today, I've certainly seen more business plans than I care to remember. Make your business plan shine with the three "Cs" to success: Be ConciseA concise plan provides a simple explanation for why the business is a great idea, as well as how it will be executed. Be CompellingThe goal is to make your company appear to be deeply compelling. Be CompleteYou must have a trusted third party review your plan to ensure it addresses all possible issues an investor may have. Wow! Here's how to do it: Do not use a business plan package. You'll also need a financial model.

How the Eye Sees a Web Page Do you know what is the first thing that your eye is drawn to on a website? And in what pattern do people scan your website? There have been many eyetracking tests on this subject and I’ll give you 15 most useful facts you should know. The picture below shows 3 different websites and where people look on them. Red indicates the area, where people looked the most, yellow areas got a bit less eye-action, blue areas got the least views and the gray areas, well, people didn’t focus on them at all. As you can see, the more people scroll down, the more they lose focus and start mainly scanning your website. Here are the 15 facts you should know on how people view websites. Text attracts more attention than pictures. There you go. Sources: BBC News | directcreative | GoogleBlog

team building games ideas, exercises, business games and activities for corporate team building, training, management, motivation, kids activities and childrens party games teamwork Great teamwork makes things happen more than anything else in organizations. The diagram representing McGregor's X-Y Theory helps illustrate how and why empowered teams get the best results. Empowering people is more about attitude and behaviour towards staff than processes and tools. Teamwork is fostered by respecting, encouraging, enthusing, caring for people, not exploiting or dictating to them. At the heart of this approach is love and spirituality which helps bring mutual respect, compassion, and humanity to work. using and planning team-building activities People are best motivated if you can involve them in designing and deciding the activities - ask them. team exercises and events for developing ethical organizations Team-building exercises and activities also provide a wonderful opportunity to bring to life the increasing awareness and interest in 'ethical organizations'. corporate events and social responsibility Evening dinner and dance or disco. Buy a big basket.

How to Motivate Employees By David Austin on August 6, 2012 in Infographics What’s the secret to motivating employees? This infographic explains it. Motivating employees isn’t as simple as paying them more. There is an optimal level of arousal that is key to motivating people. There is a material impact to having disengaged employees. 30 Social Media Monitoring Tools If you work in online marketing or social media, you know how difficult it can be to try and be everywhere at once. Social media monitoring tools can be extremely useful to help brands, companies and individuals keep up with all relevant social media activity. Social Media Monitoring Tools not only helps you to check what people have to say about you or your company brand but they also help you analyze the ROI (return on investment), and the steps you need to take to improve your reputation and make your customers happy. In this article, I have compiled a large list of social media monitoring tools to help you reach your social media goals. Enjoy! Advertisement 1. Offers premium social media monitoring tools to help enterprises maximize the reach and efficiency of social media outreach and listening efforts. 2. Addictomatic searches the best live sites on the web for the latest news, blog posts, videos and images. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

20 ways to motivate your employees without raising their pay. It is a costly mistake to get lost in the false theory that more money equals happy employees. Believing this is costing you valuable time, revenue, employees...and even threatening your own job. Cash will always be a major factor in motivating people and a solid compensation plan is critical to attracting and keeping key personnel. But the key is that additional cash is not always the only answer and in many cases not even the best answer. Too many bonus or commission checks get cashed, spent and forgotten just that quickly. One alternative to giving commissions or bonus dollars is to give gifts through a catalog point system. The company you choose will provide you with catalogs, price sheets and point checks at no charge. The stimulation involved is long-lasting. Whenever I have implemented this program, the employees are overwhelmingly in favor of the point system as opposed to cash. With solid compensation in place, let's look at non-monetary motivation...20 steps to success. 1. 2.

Email Marketing Blog for Small Business: How to Make the Best Use of An Email Signature So many times email signatures are an afterthought and not really looked at as an opportunity to sell. What I mean by “email signature” is the signature you put at the bottom of your person-to-person emails, not on your email marketing campaigns (although you can use signatures for that as well!) And I don’t only mean your own email signature, I mean the email signatures of all of your employees as well, especially if you’re sending out a lot of customer service related emails. First things first, you’ve got to make sure that there are standard pieces of information your employees include when they’re representing your business. Name, company name, address and phone number.Twitter and Facebook links and encourage people to follow you.Website and blog address. There are also some creative ways you can utilize the email signature portion of your emails that might not be “necessary” but could be fun to add as well as help increase your sales! © 2010 – 2012, VR Marketing Blog.

How to Train Yourself to be More Successful How can you use the latest discoveries in brain science to improve your life? Here are some techniques. November 02, 2011 Leadership tycoon Warren Bennis once said, “We seem to collect information because we have the ability to do so, but we are so busy collecting it that we haven’t devised a means of using it. The true measure of any society is not what it knows but what it does with what it knows.” There is a wealth of information at our disposal today on the latest discoveries in brain science. We can either drown in this information or turn it into a lifesaver by extracting its practical knowledge. Use visualization to learn a new skill Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to continuously create new neural pathways. In a Harvard University study, two groups of volunteers were presented with a piece of unfamiliar piano music. Albert Einstein, who is credited with saying that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” used visualization throughout his entire life. Parker J.

Tips To Plan And Schedule Efficiently Use a daytimer or calendar that is large enough to write down what you need to do and when. You may want the page big enough to record brief facts, or telephone numbers you need to call, or short directions to where you need to go. Many ADDers find computer programs for planning and time management very beneficial. Making lists and checking off items when they are done is an excellent strategy. Learning how to make and use an outline is excellent for planning, as you are able to tell at a glance what groups of activities need to be done together and in what order. Tasks only you can do. Follow up on any tasks that are delegated.

Top 10 Online Influencers - Fitness Methodology: How is influence measured? Influencers included in “SharecareNow 10: Fitness” have demonstrated influence within fitness conversations online. Influence is calculated through a proprietary algorithm based on more than 40 individual metrics, including disease-area relevance and online syndication, presence and reach. All metrics are based on content produced over the past year (from the list’s publish date) across multiple online channels, including Twitter, blogs, forums, mainstream news and video. About Sharecare Now, powered by WCG, is the healthcare industry's first and only digital platform offering real-time analytics on patient healthcare trends, conversations and influential authors.

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