Self Improvement Site
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
Articles from SelfGrowth.com Articles | Selfgrowth.com
- ***Weak Leaders Try to Use Money as a Motivator - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Managers tend to use compensation as a crutch. After all, it is far easier to design an incentive system that will do management's work than it is to articulate a direction persuasively, develop agreement about goals and problems, and confront difficulties when they arise." — Michael Beer, ...
Views: 1341(4 votes) - ***Organizational Changes to Deal with Whirlwinds of Change - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The world is moving so fast these days that anyone who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." — Elbert Hubbard, 19th century American editor, lecturer, and essayist My library is full of books chronicling, charting, and categorizing the major changes societies, ...
Views: 1071 - ***Paradoxical Balancing Acts in Organization Improvement - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together." — John Ruskin, 19th century English critic, artist and social reformer Too often, we see the world in narrow binary, either/or terms. Odd or even, closed or open, introverted or extroverted, individual or group, ...
Views: 1151 - ***Why Most Change Programs and Improvement Initiatives Fail - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"I can't say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days." — Daniel Boone, American frontiersman and pioneer Many team and organization change and improvement efforts are lost or badly bewildered. Decades of studies have consistently shown that 50–70 percent are failing. There ...
Views: 1293(8 votes) - ***Visions Provide the Energizing Context to Reach Our Goals - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon." — Konrad Adenauer, first chancellor of post war West Germany Like mission and vision statements and values, goal setting and visioning labels often get confused and used interchangeably. Generally that doesn't matter. ...
Views: 1056 - ***Timeless Leadership Principles in a Changing World - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"There are no new truths, but only truths that have not been recognized by those who have perceived them without noticing. A truth is something that everybody can be shown to know and to have known, as people say, all along." — Mary McCarthy, author and critic I write these words as I sit in ...
Views: 1347(34 votes) - ***Timeless Leadership Principles - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesWhile interviewing the legendary Jack Nicklaus, a reporter once remarked, "Jack, you have had a spectacular career. Your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course. What is your secret?" Nicklaus replied, "The holes are numbered!" If only leadership ...
Views: 1209 - ***This Crazy Period of Constant Change is Normal - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." In the middle of a meeting with a few colleagues I caught myself saying, "Once we get through this crazy period and things get back to normal..." Then it hit me. I had been saying something like that for at least a year or two. As we ...
Views: 1019 - ***Technomanagement: A Deadly Mix of Bureaucracy and Technology - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The practice of management is badly misunderstood by management scientists who confuse thinking with merely being logical." — Ted Levitt, Thinking About Management Far too many organizations are ruled by bureaucrats and technocrats either in management or staff support roles. One of their ...
Views: 989 - ***Successful Change Flows from Learning, Growth, and Development - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Leaders in learning organizations are responsible for building organizations where people are continually expanding their capabilities to shape their future — that is — leaders are responsible for learning ." (his emphasis) — Peter Senge, The Leaders New Work: Building Learning ...
Views: 1108(15 votes) - ***Successful Change and Improvement Needs Balanced Improvement Planning - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"A foolish cabin owner eventually lost his cabin to the rot that set in through the leaky roof. When it was raining, he couldn't fix the roof. When the sun was shining, he was too busy outside doing other things — and the roof didn't need fixing then anyway." As Yogi Berra would say, "It was ...
Views: 953 - ***Stop Managing and Start Leading - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesAsk any group of managers if they view themselves as an elite within their organization and you can be sure they will deny it. You'll hear comments such as: "I have an open-door policy" and "I take pride in always being accessible and approachable." And in most cases, these managers will ...
Views: 866(1 vote) - ***Steering Our Leadership Wheel - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The winds and waves are always on the side of the best navigators." — Edward Gibbon, English historian Leaders look beyond the current situation – beyond what is, to what could be. That's why leadership is all about change. It's why leadership is action, not a position. Growing our ...
Views: 1545 - ***Soft Skills, Hard Results (Part 2) - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"We should take care not to make the intellect our god. It has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. It cannot lead, it can only serve." - Albert Einstein There's not a lot we can do about the processing power between our ears. For the most part, we're stuck with whatever ...
Views: 1173(24 votes) - ***Soft Skills, Hard Results (Part 1) - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesLeadership deals with the world of emotions and feelings. It is more of an art than a science. Like artists, leaders have the ability to share their vision of the world. Leaders influence our perceptions and help us look at situations in new ways. These skills – and the leadership principles ...
Views: 1137(28 votes) - ***Nurturing Change Champions - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission." — Peter Drucker, Adventures of a Bystander When we look back at the successful team or organization changes we've been involved in, most — and certainly all major ones — were driven by ...
Views: 998 - ***Navigating Change and Adversity - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Embrace change" is a useless platitude mouthed by managers or motivational speakers who have not thought through its full implications — or they are masochists who enjoy suffering. Changes that bring new opportunities or propel us forward are easy to embrace. But many changes look quite ...
Views: 999 - ***More Change Demands More Leadership - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Leadership is about coping with change. Part of the reason it has become so important in recent years is that the world has become more competitive and more volatile...doing what was done yesterday, or doing it 5% better, is no longer a formula for success. Major changes are more and more ...
Views: 1118 - ***Mastering Change Through Continuous Growth, Learning, and Improvement - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"When you're through changing, you're through." — Bruce Barton, American advertising executive, author, and politician To master or thrive on change, we need to embrace perpetual growth and development, continuous learning, and constant improvement. That's the stuff true change leadership is ...
Views: 1119 - ***Management vs. Leadership - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment...strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is ...
Views: 1478 - ***Manage Things, Lead People - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesHigh-performing teams and organizations balance the discipline of systems, processes, and technology management on a base of effective people leadership. Here are some keys of the key distinctions between the two: The Management-Leadership ...
Views: 1787(35 votes) - ***Leaders Invest in Growing and Developing People - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters. A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders." — Neale Donald Walsch Successful leaders understand the difference between things and people in an ...
Views: 1100 - ***Leaders Help People See Beyond What Is to What Could Be - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries before." — Frances Hodgson Burnett, 19th century American writer Thomas Kuhn, ...
Views: 1047 - ***Leaders Give People Space to Grow - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being." — Goethe I enjoy perennial gardening in our yard. As I have tended our gardens over the years, I am continually struck by how some plants will do well in some locations and terribly ...
Views: 1181 - ***Leaders Foster Individual Passion for Change and Improvement - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can fire forth its spark." — Henry Amiel Strong leaders are very good at aligning individual interests, strengths, and goals with the work that needs to be done. To ...
Views: 1168 - ***Leaders Care for Organization Culture and Context - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"When we are dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity." — Dale Carnegie, personal effectiveness pioneer and author In many organizations ...
Views: 1066 - ***Improvement Planning for Taking Charge of Change - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"He who is not prepared today, will be less so tomorrow." — Ovid, Roman poet Effective learning and capability development doesn't happen just because we want it to. For example, empowering without enabling isn't just foolish, it's unethical. It's like putting a complete novice at the ...
Views: 1015 - ***How Many Companies Lose That Loving Feeling - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Some people can think no deeper than a fact." — Voltaire (pseudonym of Francois Marie Arouet), 18th century French philosopher and dramatist Many successful companies were started by passionate zealots with a strong technical expertise matched only by their powerful vision and intense drive ...
Views: 979 - ***Harnessing the Energy of Change Champions - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesPeter Drucker once said, "whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission." That sure squares with my own consulting experience. When I look back at the hundreds of team or organization changes I've been involved in during the last three ...
Views: 945 - ***Growing with Change - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesChange happens. And while we can't control much of the world changing around us, we can control how we respond. We can choose to anticipate and embrace changes, or resist them. Resisting change is like trying to push water upstream. Generally we're quick to point to others who resist change. ...
Views: 1423 - ***Growing the Leader in Us - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"For what we've discovered, and rediscovered, is that leadership isn't the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It's a process ordinary people use when they're bringing forth the best from themselves and others. Liberate the leader in everyone, and extraordinary things happen." — ...
Views: 1266(25 votes) - ***Growing at the Speed of Change - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"What is the most rigorous law of our being? Growth. No smallest atom of our moral, mental, or physical structure can stand still a year. It grows — it must grow; nothing can prevent it." — Mark Twain, American author and humorist Change happens. We can't control much of the world changing ...
Views: 1036(14 votes) - ***From Phase of Life to Way of Life - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us." — G. K. Chesterton, British author, Fancies Versus Fads Marti was driving through her neighborhood to work one morning when a genie ...
Views: 1206(14 votes) - ***Focus and Context: The Hub of Leadership - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Successful leaders spend a lot of time creating the identity of the organization – what our values are, what our mission is, what our purpose is, how we are going to act together as one. Those are agreements of how we are going to be together. You can actually get a whole team or a whole group ...
Views: 1056 - ***Education and Communication Build Commitment - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The increasing availability of new information and communication technology is one of the key ingredients that makes a high-involvement management approach possible. This capability, more than any other, makes it possible for individuals to become self-managing, to be involved in the business, ...
Views: 1005(1 vote) - ***Cultivating Leadership - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesOver the last two decades I have consulted to, provided workshops for, and delivered keynote presentations on leadership to a variety of restaurant chains and individual restaurant managers. I continue to be surprised by the general confusion between management and leadership. Managers push, ...
Views: 1273(38 votes) - ***Choosing Our Poison or Choosing to Let Go - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The sword of attack is always held backwards. We think we're holding the handle, swinging our blade at the world. In truth, though, we're gripping the blade and waving about a harmless handle. The harder we fight, the deeper we cut ourselves." — Dan Cavicchio, Gardens from the Sand: A Story ...
Views: 927(1 vote) - ***Choice More than Chance Determines Our Circumstance - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"What's the world's greatest lie?" the boy asked, completely surprised. "It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie." — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist The day was a winter ...
Views: 1065 - ***Changing Me to Change Them - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"We must be the change we wish to see in this world." — Mahatma Gandhi, Indian nationalist and spiritual leader who developed the practice of nonviolent disobedience that forced Great Britain to grant independence to India in 1947 I can think of all kinds of ways to change our kids, my ...
Views: 1213(30 votes) - ***Change or Be Changed - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesGeorge was 53 when he had his first attack. He'd smoked for almost 40 years, was badly overweight, had an extremely high fat diet, and handled stress poorly. This warning shocked him into joining a smoking-cessation program. George and his wife also learned about healthy eating and improved ...
Views: 1216(15 votes) - ***Change Management is an Oxymoron - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com ArticlesA dubious consulting industry and "profession" has developed, claiming to provide "change management" services. Those two words make about as much sense together as "holy war", "non-working mother", "mandatory option", and "political principles". Many of the books, models, theories, and ...
Views: 1101 - ***Change Management Can Lead to Rigidity and Resistance to Change - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Today's successful business leaders will be those who are most flexible of mind. An ability to embrace new ideas, routinely challenge old ones, and live with paradox will be the effective leader's premier trait. . . Leaders will have to guide the ship while simultaneously putting everything up ...
Views: 1291(19 votes) - ***Change is Life - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Weep not that the world changes. Did it keep a stable, changeless state, it were cause indeed to weep." — William Cullen Bryant, 19th century American poet, critic, and editor "I hate all this change. Why can't things just stay the same?" Dirk shouted angrily at the TV news anchor. He threw ...
Views: 1060(2 votes) - ***Change Checkpoints and Improvement Milestones - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"When you arrive at a fork in the road — take it." — Yogi Berra, major league baseball Hall of Fame player and coach Many paths lead to higher performance. The high performance route is individual and unique for every person, team, and organization. There is no one or best way. What works for ...
Views: 1065(2 votes) - ***Breaking Out of Our Mental Prisons - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. And there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which ...
Views: 1324(2 votes) - ***Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Change Processes - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Grass-roots change presents senior managers with a paradox: directing a 'nondirective' change process. The most effective senior managers in our study recognized their limited power to mandate corporate renewal from the top. Instead, they defined their roles as creating a climate for change, ...
Views: 1205(15 votes) - ***Balancing Technology, Management, and Leadership - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order." — Alfred North Whitehead, 19th century British mathematician and philosopher As Achieve (my first consulting company) was working with our Clients to implement Toward Excellence (the cultural change ...
Views: 1305(35 votes) - ***Accept What Can't Be Changed and Change What Can Be - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself." — Robert Bennett, U.S. ...
Views: 3167(4 votes) - ***A Tale of Two Managers: Command versus Commitment - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"Organizations should be built and managers should be functioning so people can be naturally empowered. If someone's doing their job...they should know their job better than anybody. They don't need to be 'empowered,' but encouraged and left alone to be able to do what they know best." — Henry ...
Views: 1153(6 votes) - ***A Checklist for Changing Me to Change Them - by Submitted on Jul 19, 2009 from SelfGrowth.com Articles"The cruelest lies are often told in silence." — Robert Lewis Stevenson, 19th century Scottish poet, novelist, and essayist We can't build a team or organization that's different from us. We can't make them into something we're not. Failing to follow this principle is the single biggest ...
Views: 1252(24 votes)