What Not to Do When You’re Trying to Motivate Your Team

By Ron Carucci, Harvard Business Review

When I speak to large groups about leadership, one question I often ask is, “How many of you have ever received a compliment from your boss that actually offended you?” Without exception, more than two-thirds of the people in the room raise their hands. When I probe further on what people found offensive about their boss’s praise, the most common responses I hear are “It wasn’t sincere” and “They didn’t know what they were talking about.”

When leaders look like they are just applying some “motivational technique” they read about, people see right through the superficial, obligatory effort. It looks like they are checking off the “I motivated someone today” box. Motivation is not something you do to people. People ultimately choose to be motivated — when to give their best, go the extra mile, and offer radical ideas. The only thing leaders can do is shape the conditions under which others do, or don’t, choose to be motivated. But the final choice is theirs.

Read more here.

Advertisements

Build the 8-Pillar Trust Edge Framework

By Trust Edge Leadership Institute

CLARITY: People trust the clear and mistrust the ambiguous. Clarity unifies, motivates, increases morale, and inspires trust. Clear communication leads to trusted colleagues, happy employees, and satisfied customers.

COMPASSION: People put faith in those who care beyond themselves. Caring leads to trust. Think beyond yourself and put people before things to improve relationships.

CHARACTER: People notice those who do what is right over what is easy. Building integrity takes work but gives the biggest reward. Always ask yourself, “Is this the right thing?”

COMPETENCY: People have confidence in those who stay fresh, relevant, and capable. Stretch your mind with new ideas, fresh thoughts, and different perspectives.

Read more here.

10 Ways to Avert Hiring Disasters and Ensure a Perfect Cultural Fit

By Marissa Levin, Founder and CEO of Successful Culture & WPO North Virginia Chapter Chair

As a regional facilitator for Women Presidents Organization (WPO), I have the opportunity to guide 16 women business owners who own multi-million dollar businesses through their leadership and organizational challenges.

 

In a recent meeting, a member shared that she was struggling to hire the right COO. She asked for guidance from the group on how to ensure a strong cultural fit when going through the recruiting and interviewing process.

 

Every member in attendance could empathize with her situation, and I could as well. Here are 10 strategies all leaders can use to strengthen their hiring process, and improve their ability to identify candidates that will culturally fit with their companies.

Institute a 360-degree hiring process.

At my first firm Information Experts, I was always the last person to interview key hires. Employee perspectives are critical to the hiring process because our employees see and experience things we don’t. Our 360-degree hiring process ensured that the employees with whom a new hire will be working would be able to voice their opinion regarding the candidate’s overall organizational fit.

 

Read more here.

Are You Making Efficient Use Of Your Time Spent On Social Media?

By Lindsey Carnett,CEO and President of Marketing Maven & WPO Los Angeles I Chapter member

If you spend 20 hours per week on marketing your business, on average, then you’re not alone. So do other small businesses, according to a recent survey by Constant Contact. Most of the business owners surveyed (82 percent) say they market their business across multiple platforms. That includes Web, email and social media, mostly.

How can you hone your social media strategy so you are making more effective use of your time? Follow these five tips for social media success:

1. Conduct a mini audit: look at your social media profiles with a professional set of eyes. What is good about your online presence, and what can be improved? Review your analytics to see which types of posts are popular with your audience and build these into a content schedule moving forward. Who has recently followed you, and are there trends that point to new networks you can tap into? Be brutal and analytical in identifying what is and isn’t working.

Read more here.

HOW DATA PRIVACY WILL RESHAPE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN 2019

By Jill Reber, CEO of Primitive Logic & WPO Platinum II Chapter member

Protecting personal information is the new normal, and personal data privacy will be the most prominent issue affecting how businesses gather, store, process, and disclose data in 2019. Gartner includes data ethics and privacy on their list of the top 10 strategic technology trends of 2019, placing it on the same level as AI-driven development, blockchain, and edge computing.

Now that the EU and the state of California have established precedents for impactful data privacy laws, other countries and legislative bodies — including the U.S. Congress — are enacting or exploring their own options for protecting consumers’ personal information. As these trends continue, nearly every U.S. company will be subject to data privacy legislation in the near future.

Read more here.

NWBC 2018 Annual Report

By National Women’s Business Council

We are pleased to share the Council’s Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018, “Journey to 30”

The National Women’s Business Council’s (NWBC) 2018 Annual Report commemorates its 30th anniversary year, provides the findings, conclusions, and policy recommendations of the Council, and expresses NWBC Chair Liz Sara’s vision for 2019.

This year there are an estimated 12.3 million women-owned firms accounting for 40% of all businesses. In its 2018 Annual Report, NWBC reaffirms its commitment to providing a platform to expand and improve opportunities for women business owners and their enterprises.

In this Annual Report, we:

• Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of The Women’s Business Ownership Act establishing the National Women’s Business Council;
• Present policy recommendations that will foster the continued economic growth for women owned small businesses;
• Express NWBC Chair Liz Sara’s vision for guiding the Council into a new era where it will build on past and current achievements, ensuring its advocacy loses neither momentum nor impact.

Click here to read full report. 

Winds of Change – 2018 Key Findings

By The Boston Club

Numerous gains were made in gender diversification in boardrooms and executive suites in the Census companies this past year. We appreciate this progress and applaud the companies involved. Nevertheless, this is no time for complacency — we still have a long way to go.

Definite Progress This Year

• Women account for a record high 21.0% of the directors on the boards of the 100 largest public companies in Massachusetts, an increase of 1.8% and 15 women directors from over a year ago.
• Women accounted for 41.7% of the independent directors added to the Census companies this year, up from 28.6% in 2017.
• 89 of the 100 Census companies have one or more women directors, five more than last year.
• 61 companies now have two or more women directors, up from 51 a year earlier.
• 24 companies have three or more women directors, just one more than a year ago, but 15 more than in 2014.
• Women of color accounted for 9.7% of all new directors in the Census companies this past year.

Read more here.