Archive for September, 2010

Mistake 1
• Developing the measures in isolation from the business strategy process.

Mistake 2

• Not setting measures that are results orientated.

Mistake 3

• Not being clear about the scope of the performance measures.

Mistake 4

• Being too narrow in the types of measures that you use. For example, being too reliant on traditional financial measures.

Mistake 5

• Not focussing on the critical measures and having too many measures.

What else would you add?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Mistake 1
• Using vague or non-specific terms like efficient, effective and quality, to name just a few.

Mistake 2

• Creating a list of activities, rather than results orientated goals.

Mistake 3

• Not defining what will be different when the goal is achieved.

Mistake 4

• Not linking them to the overall vision and mission of the organisation.

Mistake 5

• Not setting a deadline.

Mistake 6

• Not allocating responsibility for each goal.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Major organisations always take the time to set a long term strategy. However, creating a successful strategy is tougher than it seems.

Are you or your organisation making any of the following mistakes?

1. Not being crystal clear about your purpose.
2. Not having a clear vision for the organisation.
3. Failing to get clear on what the organisation stands for in terms of values.
4. Not effectively assessing the internal and external environment in which the organisation operates.
5. Relying on a one or two day senior management away day or offsite meeting to come up with the strategy.
6. Not involving different people at different levels of the organisation in the process.
7. Seeing strategy as a task and finish exercise rather than a process.
8. Not identifying the strategic initiatives that underpin the achievement of the vision and mission.

What else would you add?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Teams, we all know, have the potential to deliver great results but often don’t reach that potential.

At the same time, we sometimes make some assumptions that may or may not be valid. So what are some of the common myths about team working?

Myth 1: People instinctively know how to work in teams
• The reality is that most of us are masters at looking after Number One – ourselves. Think about it: most of our life it is what we do ourselves that determines success.

Myth 2: A team is always the best option

• Teams work best when there is dependency. If one person can do it all alone, there is no need for a team.

Myth 3: The bigger the team the better

• You might think that a bigger team will bring more skills, ideas or contributions. The reality is that a team will work best when small, typically 3 to 7 people.

Myth 4: People will choose to be team players

• They may say so in job interviews but the reality is that most people look after their own interests and pursue their own agendas.

The reality is that teams working well on a clearly defined outcome can make a big difference.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Many people fear presenting more than death. Often these barriers to presenting are more in the mind than grounded in reality. So what are the common myths you need to be alert to?

Myth 1: It needs to be word perfect
• In reality it needs to be understandable, not word perfect.

Myth 2: Everyone is judging you

• This is no different to every other walk of life. You cannot change or force people to always think you are great. Life is not like that.

Myth 3: You cannot use humour

• You obviously cannot be a stand up comic in a business presentation but at the same time there is no rule that says it is a humour free zone.

Myth 4: It is genetic

• The fact is, I have yet to hear any midwife tell the parents of a new born that it has the presentation gene. How about you?

The truth is myths hinder our ability to present well. So what myths or beliefs do you need to drop in order to be a better presenter?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Delegation can help you to achieve better results as a leader or manager. Yet many managers still often buy into one or more of the following myths about delegation:

Myth 1: It takes a long time to do
• The reality is that it is a one off investment of time that pays back quickly.

Myth 2: People will let you down

• The reality is that if you give people the chance, they will almost always rise to the challenge.

Myth 3: You can do it quicker

• Maybe you can but the question is what are you not doing instead that might stop you from getting results?

Myth 4: People might do it better than you and show you up

• You’re right, they might, which goes to show that you should not be doing it in the first place.

Myth 5: You will delegate yourself out of your job

• Not at all, you will create more time to do what you should really be doing.

The reality is that delegation can be the catalyst to delivering better performance. So what stops you?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

In the modern business world, people seem to be working longer and longer. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of being the first to arrive and last to leave. How do I know this? Well simply because it was an area that I found a challenge when working in the accountancy profession.

So if you are first to arrive and last to leave, what can you do to address this?

Get clear on your priorities
• You have lots of things you could do. The question is what should you be doing? Getting clear on your priorities is essential.

Focus on your priorities

• It is all well and good being clear on your priorities. At the same time, you need to make sure that you are focussing on them. That means continually checking what you are doing to make sure you are focussing on what matters.

Discover what can only be done by you

• In my experience, most tasks can be grouped into 3 brackets:
1. Things that need doing and can only be done by you.
2. Things that need doing but not necessarily by you.
3. Things that might not need doing at all.

Learn to delegate

• Delegation is not just about getting stuff off your desk. It also provides a great development opportunity. So learn how to and start delegating.

The reality is that if we allow it, work will expand to fill the time we have available. Remember, few things are so critical in management that they need attention right away.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Sometimes delivering better results is not always about work harder but about working smarter. Discover my top tips in this short video.

If you are like most people, you probably started on your career path full of hope and enthusiasm. The early signs were positive but then you got stuck. If you are stuck in your career, what can you do to move forward?

Set aside time to take stock

You probably have done lots of things in your career but, if you are like most of us, it is all too easy to lose sight of everything you have done or achieved. Set aside a couple of hours to list all of the things you have done and achieved. You might just surprise yourself at what you uncover.

Ask yourself what’s stopping you

You probably have been applying for, and maybe even been interviewed for, more senior positions but not landing the role at the next level. Think about some of the feedback that you are getting. Is there a common theme or themes emerging? Once you know this, you can take action to do something about it.

Give your CV or résumé a makeover

Take out your CV or résumé and look at it as if you were a recruiter. In the 30 second scan, what does it say about you and is it saying what you want it to? In other words, is it selling what you have to offer?

Hire A Coach or Mentor

It may not be the first thing that comes into your head but often even a short period with a coach or mentor can accelerate your move forward. The one to one personal support can make the difference.

At the end of the day, there could be many things that are keeping you stuck. The trick is to identify these and take action to do something to address them.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals to achieve success, realize their professional potential and maximise their earnings. You can sign up for his free audio masterclass here

I am guessing that if you are in a management role, you would like to thrive and prosper. After all, if you thrive and prosper, your career soars and you get the rewards that this brings.

So if you are ready to be a better manager, what do you need to consider?

What is expected of you?
• Interestingly, when I pose this question to clients, they often struggle to come up with a good answer. You may have a list of objectives or a job description but are you clear on what is expected of you as a manager? If not, make it a priority to find out.

Do a self assessment

• Spend some time reflecting on what it is you do really well and what areas might need developing. Armed with this, you can take immediate action to move forward.

Actively seek feedback

• Feedback is the catalyst for change. More often than not, people will identify things that you do well that you are not even aware of.

Create a development plan

• We also need to grow and develop. Standing still is quite simply not an option.

The truth is some simple things can make big differences to the results you achieve. So what needs your attention most?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here