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Best of CoBiz: How to be an effective manager
Management is the process through which the strategies are executed to achieve the agreed upon, quantitative objectives. While to manage means to bring about successfully, our definition is extended to define successfully as executing the plans delegated to the manager, achieving the specified quantitative objectives on time and on budget. Accordingly, effective management includes essential […][...]
What every employee wants
Employees and teams crave direction from their manager. They need a manager to communicate clear and consistent expectations about their work. Without management expectations to direct daily efforts, employees are forced to work blind, guessing about: The purpose of the business Their contribution to business priorities Outcomes or goals they must achieve Best methods and […]
A recipe for efficiency
Getting shown the ropes those first days, I tend to notice a dozen procedures that strike me as odd. I chalk it up to my life-long character flaw of questioning authority rather than being any kind of efficiency expert. I can’t help but ask, “What if you moved that trash can between your station a...
All in the family
Our family has had the good fortune of owning and operating our business – McGuckin Hardware in Boulder – since 1955. We are well into our fourth generation of family members who work at the store, and while we do have our moments, we wouldn’t change the outcomes and experiences for anything. Her...
What puts the ape in apricot?
Presiders are most often hired guns with large salaries who don’t have the chutzpah, passion or confidence to take courageous action. They continue to eat lavish dinners in the captain’s quarters as the ship takes on water. Sunny skies and calm seas? They look great in their dress uniform with the...
When failure is the best option
I strongly believe that there are times you should call it quits on a business. Not everything works. And — even after trying incredibly hard, and for a long period of time — failure is sometimes the best option. An entrepreneur shouldn’t view their entrepreneur arc as being linked to a single com...
One thing every manager must do
Without asking and answering, “How will the employee or team know they are successful?” managers are unable to define job success. Absent this definition, managers fail to establish employee expectations, goals and direction. To answer this critical success-defining question, managers consider thr...
Leading by lying
Want to get your people on board to implement a new process or product? Present it so the staff believes that success is only a matter of course. No need to talk about the hurdles you face, or the competition, or the risks. Those are your problems, not theirs.
Best of CoBiz: People don’t leave companies….
Top management determines and sustains corporate culture. Top management, that is the CEO or the general manager and their management teams, determine and sustain corporate culture through their beliefs, actions, and behaviors, whether spoken or written or simply by their demeanor as they pass others in the hallway. Those top managements which act with kindness, […]
Tapping into the power of storytelling…
As we learn to talk about why we’re here as companies from a storytelling perspective – rather than traditional marketing speak – we’re able to connect with prospects and customers much quicker and on a deeper level. That’s because stories share beliefs, not product information. They help understa...
More on trusted advisors versus rubber stamps
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part 1.) As a young lawyer, I often heard the phrase, “That is a business issue.” That meant it wasn’t something the advisor on the project was comfortable advising on or addressing. The answer wasn’t clear cut or immediately apparent under the training or expertise […]
Best of CoBiz: Three smart ways to keep your work-life balance
As the manager or executive of your company, you deal with seemingly nonstop responsibilities on a day-to-day basis, but you still need to make sure to have some sort of work-life balance. And remember, employees follow your lead, and if you’re staying at the office from 8-8 with no breaks every w...
