Chart Your Course International
accelerates leadership performance and helps transform businesses
into good places to work. As a result their people are far more
productive and happier and those businesses make far more money and
profits guaranteed.
For those of you who are ready to accelerate your career or advance
your business, read the following. Everyone else please stop here.
Each year I have the pleasure of working with a group of successful
individuals who want to advance to the next level. Not everyone is
eligible for this service. I am looking for individuals who have
established themselves and have a track record of success. If you
are interested in discovering how I might personally help you or
your business, please click on the link below. Click here
Personal Note from the "Captain of the Ship"
Help Wanted: Optimistic
Leadership Need Only Apply
Fear and anxiety dominate the workplace. People are feeling depressed
and scared. Those who have jobs are waiting anxiously for the other shoe
to fall. Millions of people feel victimized by the economy. Others have
given up hope. The effect is lowering motivation and job productivity
the world over.
Well--it is a good thing I don’t feel that way! I refuse to be a
pessimist.
Whether you are the President of the United States or the President of
the local PTA, you have a tremendous opportunity to make difference in
the lives of others through the words you use and the attitude you
choose.
If you are a leader, you have a higher calling – a responsibility to set
a positive example for others to follow. Now more than ever, this world,
this country, and your business need optimistic leadership. The people
you influence are looking for hopefulness and a positive direction to
follow. This is what good leaders do.
In my own experiences I have learned time and time again—with the right
leadership, people can do amazing things. Let’s pledge here and now to
be more optimistic. If we do, we will snap out of this recession much
quicker.
A Hero Lies in Each of Us
The heroic actions demonstrated by Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger
and his magnificent crew on US Airways Flight 1549 is worthy of
admiration. It is no surprise why so many people were galvanized with
this incident.
First came the actual incident -- a perfectly executed crash landing in
the Hudson River resulting in no loss of life. But the incident is not
as significant as the psychological affect.
As we dissect this event, each of us appreciates something different.
There is not enough space or time for me to list every detail, but here
are a couple that stand out most in my mind.
Others came first. Once the plane was in the water “Sully” was the last
to abandon ship. He did not get off until everyone was outside the
plane. Captain Sullenberger has become an international celebrity, but
you still sense his humility –he is not a man selfishly seeking glory.
I believe Joel Barker’s definition of a leader best describes Captain
Sullenberger. Barker says, “A leader is someone who takes you to a
destination you will not go to by yourself.” That is certainly true in
this incident.
We have grown callous by all the negative images we see in the media. We
are bombarded in our daily news with fallen titans motivated by
corruption and greed. Whether it concerns peanut butter, private jets,
or golden parachutes, we have grown skeptical and have less trust for
those in authority.
We tend to forget there are far more good people in this world than bad.
Sullenberger and his crew made us hopeful and proud again. That is a
good thing.
If you would like to view the 60 Minutes interview with Captain
Sullenberger, please go to my Blog.
Best regards,
Greg Smith
CEO and "Captain
of the Ship"
770-860-9464
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Have You Lost Your Way?
Six Things You Need to Do Now
As part of the preparation when I am hired to speak, I visit several of
the businesses in that association. I recently visited one of those
companies in my hometown. I asked the business owner what he is doing
differently as a result of this economy. I was astounded to hear these
words, “Well, nothing. We are just hoping things will get better.” I was
astounded! This business needed help.
Tig Gilliam is the CEO of Adecco. He recently said, "Those leaders who
best adapt to shifts in priorities, and successfully execute against
them by rallying their talent in new and oftentimes uncharted territory,
are leaders who are successful in times of growth and times of
uncertainty."
Here are six things you need to focus on now.
1. Assess your talent.
Do they have the skills and abilities your business needs in this
economy?
What are you doing to improve those skills?
2. Work on employee engagement.
Is your workforce motivated and productive?
Do you have a way to capture their ideas and suggestions?
3. Build closer relationships with customers.
Do you know what your customers need and want from you?
Have you contacted your customers recently and let them know what new
services you provide?
Are you using the Internet and Web 2.0 effectively to market your
business?
4. Evaluate your company culture.
Is it focused on agility, flexibility?
Is your vision statement relevant and meaningful to people?
Are your departments working together or is there friction and
organizational pathologies?
5. Build trust among the management staff.
Has downsizing damaged the morale of your business?
What are you doing to improve communication?
Does your workforce trust upper management?
6. Retain your superstars.
Have you established retention plans for those people you need to keep?
If you are looking for a tool to assess the talents and skills of your
talent, I encourage you to look at the Personal Talent Skills Indicator.
It measures 32 competencies against a database of 40,000 other
individuals.
Surviving or Thriving:
Leading Your Business through the Economic Crisis
The business world has changed. Whether you are a small company or a
large corporation, success depends on your ability to eliminate status
quo, increase sales, and focus on new opportunities. You will learn how
to create a system of customer service keeping you profitable and ahead
of the competition. This session provides you dozens of tips and
strategies on improving performance, motivating your people to new
levels, and innovative ways to market your business and capture new
customers. These new ideas and concepts will take you and your company
to the next level and help you achieve measurable, bottom-line
improvement results in a short period of time. Click on the link below
for more information on our organizational development programs.
If you find our information interesting,
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Copyright 2009 by Chart Your Course
International--reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the
following attribution: From "Chart Your Course
International," by Gregory P. Smith, copyright 2009. (770) 860-9464 (800) 821-2487
