Truth-tellers are able to shine a light on actions that could be causing harm. The Devil’s Advocate perspective can alert us to vulnerabilities and how to reverse them.
Continue reading “14 Incredible Devil’s Advocates Who Refused to Stay Silent About Injustice”
A deep-dive explanation about the main categories of strategic risk (Governance, Operational, Competitive, Financial, Reputational), and the 4-step process you can use to evaluate them.
Continue reading “The 5 Areas Where Your Company is Most at Risk [Podcast]”
The best way to avoid problems and overcome barriers in a company is simple: Listen to the experiences and opinions of your employees. Although listening to negative feedback can feel challenging to leaders, it is one of the most valuable sources of risk intelligence.
In this episode, Grace explains the three ways for frustrated employees offer their opinions and which 5 steps will help you create Healthy Feedback Loops in your organization.
Continue reading “Honeybee, Scorpion, and Nuclear Employees [Podcast]”
What’s the difference between quantitative data (numbers) and qualitative data (experiences & emotions)?
Keep reading to find out why these are both essential parts of overcoming barriers as an owner, and examples of where to look for vulnerabilities in your business.
Continue reading “Interpreting Numbers and Experiences [Podcast]”
Whether you are giving a talk to 10 people or 1000, giving a successful presentation requires you to use the power of influence to engage with your audience.
A keynote speaker goes beyond a regular presentation, because it requires not only tremendous influence, but also a strategy that creates results for the event’s organizers.
I thought I knew everything about my company… until the day I stepped out of my management role and into those of front-level staff.
Working in new job tasks was the most eye-opening thing I ever did as a manager. The act of observing their roles first-hand made it crystal clear where the problems were originating. And… spoiler alert: 99% of problems in a company are because of poor management decisions!
I call this boots-on-the-ground observation method the “Employee for a Day experience.”
It’s terrifying, enlightening, humbling, and eye-opening.
And it works like magic.
Here are some ideas for how to implement this incredible (free!) tool for yourself.
Continue reading “10 Variations of the “Employee for a Day” Experience”
When you walk through a business for the first time… what is the first thing you notice?
Maybe the way it feels, looks, or smells? Is it the how the receptionist greeted and offered to help you?
Is it the attitude and friendliness of staff?
Is it the degree to which your needs were met before you even had to ask?
Successful business owners know how important first impressions are to a potential buyer. Little things can have a major impact on a customer’s decision to invest in your services or products.
It’s easy to overlook certain aspects of the workplace environment that could be turning people away. In this article, you will find out the 5 elements that can turn your business environment into one that increases both your profit margins and customer satisfaction.
Continue reading “How to Create the Perfect Workplace Environment”
What are you scared of?
As humans, we are biologically hard-wired to treat every perceived threat in an extreme way, with one of four reactions:
If you own a business, you are responsible for every detail in your company: hiring, firing, and everything in between.
When a key employee hands you their resignation letter… what is your typical response?
Do you feel alarmed, frustrated, nervous, or angry?
Are you afraid of what could go wrong?
Without a clearly defined processes to deal with unexpected turnover in your company, you will be facing a lot of unknowns. Risk Intelligence is the ability to perceive what could happen before it happens.
If you feel blindsided by a sudden resignation, or shocked by events that forced you to fire key staff members, then it’s time to boost your level of risk intelligence.
As much as we try, there are some things that come naturally and some things that don’t.
One of those “love-it-or-hate-it” activities is business planning, also known as strategic planning. The whole point of doing this is to define your organization’s:
I abbreviate Vision, Mission, Values, Objectives, and Measures with the acronym VMVOM.
