Infinite’s Opportunities Continue to Grow!

Elizabeth Gouwens was recently promoted to leadership. This is no surprise a result of her hard work and dedication. Elizabeth shared:

When I got promoted to leadership I felt extremely honored. My consistency in the field and hard work has shown through and I proved to myself and others my capabilities.

What motivates me in the field is knowing I am competing against everyone else in the office. I know that my goals are entirely up to my work ethic and mentality.

My future goals are to finish my senior year at Saint Joseph’s College this fall, and then move to the city working at a job pertaining to marketing and/or public relations. 

 I wanted to thank Infinite for giving me this opportunity to experience the ins and outs of the business and to further develop my work ethics. I have already prospered in many ways this past month and look forward to the challenges that I will face.

Again, congratulations on your promotion Elizabeth! Keep showing us what you are made of!

http://myinfinite.net/

Infinite Team is Growing!

Infinite is happy to announce Haajra Narmawala was promoted to “Leadership” this past week. We are very happy for Haajra's opportunity and Infinite wanted to share some of Haajra's words:

It feels incredible to be promoted to leadership as a result of hard work and staying consistent in the field during training. As a leader, I am even more motivated to compete for success among the other leaders and work harder than the rest. It is a great opportunity to learn and build up management skills that set you up for success in every field. As a leader, it means that I will be taking more initiative to set myself as a good example for the trainees by working hard, following the system and being prepared that will allow me to stay consistent in the field. I plan to stay consistent in the field and gain responsibilities and opportunities to build a successful team. Through the process, I will also be developing training and interviewing skills. This promotion is not the last milestone; it is an opportunity to collaborate with other leaders, learn from them and enhance their leadership skills.

Great job Haajra!  Team Infinite is very excited for your opportunity and we know you can accomplish anything you set your mind into. Keep it up!

http://myinfinite.net/

Infinite Awarded National Recognition for Sales Performance

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131112005164/en/Infinite-Awarded-National-Recognition-Sales-Performance

November 12, 2013 06:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

DES PLAINES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Infinite, an outsourced sales and marketing company headquartered in Illinois, announced that they have earned a prestigious sales trophy for their excellent performance on behalf of a major national telecommunications client during the third quarter of this year.

    “We are honored to be recognized for our dedication and hard work.”

Infinite was chosen to receive the campaign trophy based on their leading quality indicators and sales performance. Selected among 13 offices eligible for the award, Infinite is planning to meet the winning criteria for the final quarter of this year. Infinite was also the recipient for the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013.



“Our team is happy to receive this award,” said Kaitlin Moore, Director of Human Resources at Infinite. “We are honored to be recognized for our dedication and hard work.”

Specializing in marketing and sales for leading clients in various industries, Infinite works to bring long-term customers in on behalf of the client. Infinite employs an in-person, business to business approach to sales, providing dependable growth opportunities for the client. Infinite was nominated as one of Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in 2013.

Like Infinite on Facebook and check out their blog.

About Infinite

Infinite is a premier outsourced sales and marketing company that provides cutting-edge solutions to their clients. Representing well-known companies across North America, Infinite is committed to providing outstanding service and results to the client, effectively growing their customer base. For more information, call 224-567-8502 or go to http://www.myinfinite.net/.

Contacts

Infinite
Kaitlin Moore, 224-567-8502

Infinite Has Just Been Nominated As One Of Chicago's 101 Best and Brightest Companies To Work For!!

http://www.101bestandbrightest.com/home

Lets see where we end up Placing!!

Customer Experience Lessons From The Voice

By Annette Gleneicki, Published December 21, 2012

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/customer-experience-lessons-from-the-voice-0362962#Df2SP95KZ24UmVg8.99

The third season of the hit series The Voice just ended this week, and I’ve been sitting on a blog post for my “Customer Experience Lessons… ” series since the previous season. For obvious reasons. I started to create my own TV series about The Voice (of the Customer) for the post; that didn’t quite work but isn’t dead yet! I’ve rewritten the post three times! Here’s what I’ve ended up with.

Constituents
There are three key constituents of the show: (1) coaches/mentors, (2) artists, and (3) the audience. Each one plays an important part in the show.

In your business, there are many stakeholders, but the three key constituents of the customer experience are (1) employees, (2) customers, and (3) leadership/executives. You could make the connection that the coaches/mentors are the leadership or management team, setting the example for the rest of the organization, driving the customer focus and culture; the employees are your artists; and your customers are your audience.

Coaching
In the early stages of the show, the coaches each choose the artists that will be a part of their teams. Once the teams are set, they coach and mentor their team members, giving them advice and sharing best practices and secrets to success.

Coaching is critical to the growth of your employees, as well to their alignment with the customer-centric focus. Role playing, sharing your expertise, providing feedback, offering opportunities for career development, and recognizing a job well done are all part of coaching. In addition, creating a relationship of mutual trust, showing employees that you stand behind them, and expressing your commitment to their success will improve the employee experience, which, in turn, yields a much better customer experience.

Training
The artists spent a lot of time doing their homework, learning their songs, and practicing in preparation for the show every week.

Your employees must and will do the same. Don’t assume that they know how to deliver great service, especially to your company’s standards. Assume that you need to clearly spell out for them your expectations on how they will interact with your customers and then train them on those expectations. Employees should constantly be learning about your products and services and updating their skills in general, as well, evolving and growing with the business.

Teamwork
While only one person wins The Voice, the artists are split up into teams. Each individual on a team forms a close bond with the other members of their team over the course of their time on the show, as well as with their team leader, their coach.

The same is true for your employees. They are part of a team, whether its their individual departments or the company as a whole. A team collaborates and works together toward a common goal.

Backstory
Every artist on The Voice has an interesting life story, whether it’s a personal tragedy or just an awesome lifelong dream to become the next big pop star. The backstory is part of what creates that connection for the audience with the artists.

In the customer experience world, there are two types of backstories:

    The Customer’s Story. Know your customers. Every customer is unique. Tailor experiences to the customer. You can’t meet their needs until you understand who they are and what their needs are.
    The Company’s Story. Your company’s story is its history, it’s purpose, its reason for being. Everyone, both customers and employees, need to understand the company’s story.

As with the artists, these backstories also for the foundation for the connection between the customer and the brand.

Competition
The show itself is obviously a competition. Artists compete with other artists, but they also compete against themselves, striving to always do better than the previous performance. Coaches and the audience remember.

Customers have choices. Customers remember. Don’t dwell on what your competition is doing; instead, dwell on what you’re doing.

Performance
The Voice is all about the performance, about artists giving their best performances every time they’re on stage.

Your customer experience is only as good as your weakest link, right? Make sure every link, every touchpoint, is delivering a perfect 10 performance. Just like in The Voice competition, consistency is only important once you’re performing at your absolute best, better than everyone else. Once you reach that level, the experience your customers have with your organization must consistently exceed their expectations.

Focus
The artists were missing their families and friends, but they needed to remain focused on the task at hand.

For your business, that focus needs to be on delivering the best customer experience possible. End of story.

Goals
Every single competitor had a goal: to win The Voice. They had dreams of being the next big thing. Many overcame obstacles to be there, to stay true to their dreams, and to achieve their goals.

The goal of a customer-centric organization is to not only meet but to exceed customers’ expectations. Turning customers into raving fans is the ultimate goal. Make sure employees are in alignment; to do so, fall on your brand promise. As I wrote previously: “The brand promise aligns all of the activities of the organization; that promise guides people, processes, products, systems, etc. Everything you do must support and reinforce the brand promise: every product, every person, every interaction, every touchpoint, all of it. Every time.”

Listening
An important component of a music competition is listening, i.e., for the coaches and the audience alike. Coaches are typically listening for pitch, tone, runs, etc., while audience members are listening for great-sounding voices and songs that make them feel something.

You cannot have a customer-centric culture without listening to your customers. Or without really hearing what they are saying.

Feedback
The Voice contestants were constantly receiving feedback about their performances from their coaches and from others around them.

As an organization, you should be encouraging and receiving feedback from your customers. As an employee, you should be receiving feedback from your mentor/manager and from your customers.

The Voice
The name of the show is, obviously, The Voice. Ultimately, the coaches and the audience are looking for the winning voice, the best-sounding artist from all the choices they have. The coaches’ initial votes are truly about the individual voices, as they have their backs turned to the contestants and cannot see them. They hit their buttons to weigh in, to select an artist for their teams. Artists have a choice, if multiple coaches hit their buttons.

Your customers have a choice. Actually, they have lots of choices. They don’t have a button, but they get to weigh in. They get to vote with their wallets.

Your customers have a voice. Bring that voice into all aspects of the organization, to every touchpoint. Make sure it’s heard. And acted upon.

The Journey
The artists who make it into the top 10 have quite the journey – behind them and ahead of them. The journey behind them is much shorter than what lies ahead. Even if they didn’t win the show, they have built a fan base over the weeks and months that will stay with them well into the future. Those artists in the top 5 – 10 will do well and have great careers ahead of them.

The customer experience is a journey, as well. And just like the artists, your company’s journey behind is much shorter than what lies ahead. What lies ahead is a lot of hard work and focus, a lot of learning and improving, a lot of adapting, a lot of communicating and sharing. It’s never-ending. It’s not an easy road, but those that stay the course find that the reward far outweighs the effort to get there.

When people talk about successful retailers and those that are not so successful, the customer determines at the end of the day who is successful and for what reason. -Jerry Harvey
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/customer-experience-lessons-from-the-voice-0362962#Df2SP95KZ24UmVg8.99

5 Traits of Leaders Who Are Ready for Social Good

http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanbiro/2012/12/09/5-traits-of-leaders-who-are-ready-for-social-good/

Meghan M. Biro, Contributor

‘Tis the season to do good. You might not believe it if you’ve just come from the Mall, but the spirit of good is out there. Perhaps unexpectedly, good deeds and real social change are coming from business leaders who understand that success carries with it the opportunity to exercise social responsibility without the burden of government mandate.

The path to becoming a socially-responsible leader is not as difficult as one might think. It’s a logical extension of the passionate leader’s journey. Not all leaders take it, of course; I could find no real good numbers as I researched this post but my instinct tells me less than 50 percent of successful business leaders go on to contribute to social good in a meaningful way. I’m hoping these numbers continue to increase.

Todd Warren, my fellow Forbes contributor, educator and thought-leader on startup culture, has proposed an awesome post about five attributes of entrepreneurial leaders: vision and dissatisfaction with the present, knowing and taking advantage of one’s unfair advantages, ability to recruit people to extend your vision, flexibility and ability to learn and adapt, and persistence and execution. These attributes are, in my view, the basic requirements for a socially-responsible leader – but wait, there’s more. Warren’s five attributes may make a good entrepreneur but they don’t go far enough to explain why some business success stories – for example Bill Gates – go beyond business success to become social activists and philanthropists. For every Bill Gates there are 20 or 30 Carl Ichans, Mark Cubans, even – and I am a fanboi – Steve Jobs, who achieved enormous personal success and wealth but have not contributed back significantly to society. So how does a business leader transcend personal success and extend his or her skills to the realm of the do-gooder?

I’d argue there are an additional five traits necessary to be a socially-responsible leader:

1) Heightened situational awareness. It’s one thing to be focused on being aware of the business landscape by staying open to ideas to extend and perfect your vision. It’s a different skill to be aware of the world around you. In the movie Scrooged, Bill Murray is completely unaware of his assistant’s life challenges until the ghosts visit him; once his awareness is engaged and the focus expanded from his wants and needs to encompass those of others, he is transformed into a socially-responsible, charitable soul. To become socially responsible, leaders must look beyond themselves to see what motivates, or holds back, those around him. Then he or she can see the need in others – in the world – and turn the intense focus of the entrepreneur to solving larger social problems.

2) Emotional intelligence. Yes, this is one of my favorite themes, for a reason. Until a leader opens
his or her heart and mind to others, turns what is undoubtedly prodigious intelligence and focus outward to understand the challenges of others, there can be no authentic social leadership. If you see an emotionally limited leader doing good works, look for a smart tax advisor standing in the wings.

3) Empathy. This isn’t the same as emotional intelligence. I know lots of emotionally intelligent people who are more cerebral than they are empathetic. They can understand why people behave a certain way, and adapt, but at some level it does not reach them. Empathetic people are open to the world of hurt that exists on the periphery of the world of things; they know not only why people have needs, but also why it is important to meet those needs.

4) Media savvy. This might not seem like an attribute but it is. Look at Bill Gates then look at Steve Ballmer. ‘Nuff said. The media savvy leader has an advantage when he turns his attention to social good. Bono, no stranger to the media or financial success, has done tremendous good because he knows how to work the media to advance his cause. And some media, notably HuffPo and Mashable, are making it much easier for socially-aware leaders to do good. HuffPo’s HuffPost Education Section is a media hub for all things relevant to the country’s failing education system. The brain child of Brian Sirgutz, SVP of Social Impact at The Huffington Post/AOL, HuffPo’s Education Section came about after the media channel’s executive leadership watched the movie Waiting for Superman. It’s a content channel devoted to charting what’s wrong – and what could make it right – in our education system. It may not meet your criteria for doing good, but when you’re a media channel, access is your gift and your gold. Then there’s Mashable’s Social Good content channel. The editors of Mashable, led by Meghan Peters, Community Manager for Mashable, scan the Interwebs for news and evidence of individuals, leaders and organizations dedicating resources to social good. Sometimes all it takes is a light shining on a good act, or a horror, to alert society (and leaders) to the opportunity for social good. PS: My #TChat World of Work Community will be featuring both the talented Meghan and talented Brian this week as we celebrate via social media channels.

5) Selflessness. This is the tough one. Some entrepreneurs and successful (wealthy, not merely well-off) people are not acquainted with selflessness. They do things because their personal calculus tells them there’s a benefit. Maybe it’s the unreconstructed Catholic in me but by my reckoning, you haven’t done a social good if you expect to deduct it on your taxes. You do a social good when you have no expectation of repayment of any kind – we’re not buying indulgences here.
Non-profit, for-profit, individual or business leader – we can all learn a lesson during the festival of light, the season of charity and goodness. Open your hearts and minds before you open your wallets. Charity doesn’t count if you don’t understand the motivation.

 

Mission Leadership: 4 Principles For Creating Corporate Commandos By Denis Wilson

http://www.fastcompany.com/3003397/mission-leadership-4-principles-creating-corporate-commandos

Much of the post-Petraeus talk has centered on the crisis of leadership in the military's top echelons. But on the ground, innovation doesn't spring from "command and control," but from mission leadership, something commando-turned-consultant Damian McKinney can teach you a thing or two about.

There seems to be a misconception that the military operates strictly by way of a rigid hierarchy, as if every last move on the frontline is orchestrated from atop the chain of command and those in the thick of it wait for the orders to trickle down. Not so--especially in the post-9/11 era of uncertainty.
In fact, when Damian McKinney entered the private sector after serving 18 years in British Royal Marines, the commando-turned-consultant found the business world to be more rigid than the military and that in many cases, corporate soldiers were not empowered to carry out their missions.

Shake-ups like the financial crisis only served as a reason for leadership to tighten their grip. In the military, this top-down management system is referred to as "command and control." You might call it micromanagement.

But the nature of conflict has changed significantly since the trench warfare of World War I and II. To reflect this, McKinney says a massive cultural shift took place among NATO forces during the 1980s.

“Suddenly you’ve got this guy called a terrorist appearing. And a terrorist doesn’t operate like a conventional soldier,” says McKinney. “So you’ve got a situation where an 18- or 19-year-old is faced with this guy standing in front of him and he does not have time to go through the normal chain of command and ask for permission to do something. So we had to turn the system on its head.”

Turning the system on its head meant transitioning from command and control to mission command. With mission command, everyone is closely aligned to the mission, trained to make appropriate decisions, and given the trust and support from leadership to follow through. The mission dictates what is to be done, but the how is, to a greater extent, in the hands of those tasked with execution.

Upon entering the private sector, McKinney quickly saw an opportunity to bring mission command principles to corporate leadership. In 1999, he founded management consulting firm, McKinney Rogers, which counts among its clients Walmart, Bacardi, and HBO. And this year, he published The Commando Way: Better Business Execution. In a nutshell, McKinney thinks that commando thinking is ideally suited to meet an unstable, uncertain business world. And so as to avoid the proscriptive connotations of the term "mission command," he calls it mission leadership. Here are its fundamentals.

Mission Leadership Requires A Deal 

McKinney recalls an anecdote from 1990 when a young major was explaining to a mixed audience of generals and young Marines why adopting mission command was a good idea. A general stood up and expressed his doubts that those with less experience and a lower rank could make the critical decisions that this empowerment calls for. “One of these young Marines stood up and said, ‘With all due respect, general, you’re asking me with this new doctrine to make these big decisions. How can I trust you to support me?’”

Empowerment is a two-way street. If leadership can provide a clear mission, reports should be trusted to carry out that mission with greater independence. “Essentially, it’s a deal. You’re gonna say, “Look, guys, I need to make sure we’re really clear that you all understand why we are doing what we’re doing, what we need you to do, and the boundaries within which you have to operate. You’re going to hold yourself accountable for that. But in exchange, I have to give you the freedom.”
And McKinney has all the confidence that given the opportunity to operate with more discretion, employees will thrive. “If you do that, it never ceases to amaze me how successful people can be and how innovative and creative they can be.” He suggests taking a lesson from the military, where everyone is expected to be able to operate at one or two levels above their rank, because if someone falls in battle, there’s no time to run off to management training while the enemy waits. “It has to happen there and then. So it allows you to be thinking and operating at a very different level. And so you get high levels of performance with smaller groups of people.”

Have a Vision for Success

When McKinney resigned from the military in 1997 and decided to go into business, he fully expected to leave the military mindset behind. But on morning one as a consultant, he was listening to a project presentation and at lunch asked someone to explain the “end state” of the project. “In other words, what does success look like and why are we doing it? The senior partner looked at me and said, ‘You’ve clearly been in the military too long. There is no such thing as an end state.’” McKinney was shocked: “For me it’s just an excuse--poor planning and poor understanding of what success looks like.’”

McKinney’s takeaway was that leaders should be less concerned with controlling every aspect of a project, and more concerned with outlining a clear outcome for a mission. “There’s a very simple human need here: Tell me where we’re going, tell me what part you’d like me to play--in other words, a plan--tell me the boundaries within which you want me to operate, and then just let me go.”
McKinney continues: “The one I use always because I just think it’s the best I’ve ever come across, is Kennedy’s 1961 vision. Where he stood and he essentially said, we’re going to put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade. It was powerful because it was really simple. You could listen to it and see a man standing on the moon and I can see him coming back. It was also time-bound. So I say to all these companies, everyone needs a destination. So the starting point is what is the vision for success.”

Also, Have a Purpose

What most companies call a mission statement is actually their purpose, says McKinney, and most of them are poor. A strong purpose is something you can always come back to. It’s the reason why a company exists. “Having a purpose is really important because it defines who you are,” says McKinney. “Your visions may change over the years, but your purpose should never change.”

McKinney has worked extensively with Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. In his work with Walmart, the company’s purpose consistently informs their strategy. Their purpose, “Saving people money so they can live better,” actually led to the company’s game-changing $4 generic drug program. “What we did is start off by saying, ‘What effect can we have on medical health care in the U.S. that actually drives costs down? Where do people pay a lot of money? They pay on their prescriptions, particularly old people. Well, then why don’t we try to drive the price of that down?’ So we literally went from $20 to $4. A massive change. We did a whole vision and strategy over four days, we launched it a week later, we went right through the U.S. in four months, and we saved the average middle-aged patient $200 a month.”

Empowerment Leads to Innovation

The most basic tenet behind mission leadership that is once a mission is laid out to an individual or team with absolute clarity, they should be allowed to run with it. “An individual needs to know the what and the why--the mission, the boundaries within which they operate, and then frankly, you never tell somebody how to do their job. You should just let them go.”

McKinney cites Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker, Guinness, and Smirnoff, as one company that’s had success with mission leadership tactics. For example, as the tastes of vodka drinkers started to shift from Smirnoff to premium brands like Grey Goose, Diageo knew it needed to move into that space. At the time, Steve Wilson, was the global head of innovation with Diageo, (Wilson now serves as an advisor to the McKinney Rogers board), and he tasked his product development team to come up with a new brand.

The key to success was empowering the team to to be creative with their solution, says Wilson. “Empowerment where you actually tell people what you want them to do, but you don’t tell them how they’ve got to do it.” As a result, the company ended up with the very successful vodka brand, Ciroc, which is different from most vodkas in that it’s derived from grapes, rather than the more common grain alcohol.

Given the freedom, the team came up with the answer: “The answer was, ‘Let’s go do vodka that’s made from grapes.’ Why grapes? Quite simply, what is the most luxurious product that you can drink? It’s probably Champagne. So what about a vodka that’s made from Champagne grapes?”
Without telling the team exactly what to achieve, but sticking to the mission, Diageo ended up with a winning vodka. “You get a good mix of people,” says Wilson, “Tell them what it is you want them to do, tell them when you need it by, then you just give them the freedom. And they’ll make it happen.”

Five New Year's Resolutions Every Leader Should Make

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/12/03/five-new-years-resolutions-every-leader-should-make/

This article is by Nathan Bennett, a professor of management at the Robinson College of Business at George State University.

The time for resolutions is rapidly approaching. You should take deciding what to resolve seriously, so it’s not a bad idea to begin thinking now about what you might want to accomplish as a leader in 2013.

To help you focus your self-reflection, I conducted a strictly unscientific survey of my social network on Facebook and LinkedIn. I’ve been a professor for more than 20 years, so my networks are made up largely of former students. I’d guess the preponderance are working individuals between 27 and 47 years old who have MBAs. I suspect that makes them quite a bit like the teams you lead. I simply asked them what New Year’s Resolution they’d like to see their bosses make—and keep—during 2013. Here are their top five.

5. Resolve to be the kind of leader we want to follow.

Be consistent. We can tolerate even a poor leader if he isn’t channeling a different sort of poor leadership each day. Be real. Let us see how you as a leader effectively manage emotions and frustration at work.  Show us what excites you about the challenges ahead. Help us celebrate when we overcome a perplexing challenge. Set an example. Everyone watches you—how you dress, how you treat others, when you come to work, and when you leave. Your behavior is the best argument for how you would like us to behave.

 How To Pick And Stick To Career Goals Susan AdamsForbes Staff
Oops... Assumptions Can Make an Ass of You and Me! John BaldoniContributor

4. Resolve to help us understand how we can develop.

This helps us be better in many ways. It allows us to understand our future with the company; it gives us a way to structure our efforts to learn more about our jobs, our company, and our industry; and it shows that you have a personal interest, because you have made an effort to know our individual strengths and weaknesses.

3. Become a better listener.

We have ideas. They won’t all be great ideas, but if you listen to us you can coach us to develop our ability to better vet and sharpen the next one. Listening is one of the most considerate things one person can do for another. What better way to earn loyalty and respect than by being a genuinely interested listener?

2. Hold the micromanagement. Let’s talk trust.

Nothing is more frustrating than to be prevented from just doing the job you hired me to do. We understand that it can be uncomfortable to delegate work. We understand that in many cases it is your reputation on the line when our team fails to produce something to our standard. We get the risk to you. But when you micromanage, what you are saying is that you don’t trust me. Was I a hiring mistake? Did you get stuck with me on your team when you really wanted someone else? These are not thoughts that are going to help me become a better employee. Instead, let’s get the issues of risk and trust on the table. Let’s acknowledge what’s real and then work together to find a plan that allows me to make steps every day to earn your trust. And let’s make sure that plan gives me room to contribute and to grow.

1. Hold poor performers accountable. If they can’t improve, pay the price necessary to cut them loose.

What could be more damaging to the morale of the team than the struggle associated with carrying dead wood? We understand that you may not want to lose a position, that you may have some hope that you can magically restore someone’s motivation or suddenly implant some talent, or that politics may provide the poor performer with protection. We don’t care. Those are your problems, not ours. Our problem is that we see the ironic truth in the expression “addition by subtraction.” We would all be better with this person gone. The fact he or she remains does a lot to erode your credibility, and broadly, not just in regard to what you might consider an isolated situation.

These top five resolutions are not that surprising. They are frustrations I hear repeatedly in class and have heard for more than 20 years. So they are formidable challenges. But I don’t think they need to be destiny. Let’s make a start this year. I invite you to take some time during this last month of the year to think about the resolutions above. What would your team think if you were to announce that your goal for 2013 was to improve on one of them? How much might a real effort to improve make your life as a leader more enjoyable?

What will make your resolution work? We know that promises that are made publicly and negotiated with others involved are the most likely to be kept. You can talk with your team about the list above. There may be one item that will provoke smirks and chuckles around the table because it clearly is your Achilles heel. Or maybe your team would prefer you work on something else. Once you’ve identified your assignment, work with the team to agree on what success looks like. Make sure that process includes agreement on metrics and milestones. You all know how to manage a project. Make this a project. Your team will thank you, and I expect you will be surprised at how much easier they become to lead.

And, team members: This doesn’t have to begin with the leader. The conversation can begin with you. Make it one of your resolutions to share this article with a leader you’d like to see get better.

Effective Leadership Produces Enthusiastic Followers - By Michael Mink, For Investor's Business Daily

http://news.investors.com/management-leaders-in-success/112712-634769-lead-people-right-and-get-results.htm

The expression "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it" illustrates a key point: Effective leadership is proportional to inspiring willing and engaged followers. "As a leader, you'll never accomplish anything big if you try to do it alone. Your role is to unleash the power of people working together," David Novak, CEO of Yum Brands (YUM) and author of "Taking People With You," told IBD." Tips on doing just that:

• Share the outlook. Do your people know what success looks like for your business? So asks Erika Andersen, author of "Leading So People Will Follow."

Tell your people about your vision of success, she said: "What will your business or group look, feel and act like two years from now, or three? What will you be focused on and accomplishing? People want leaders who can articulate and guide them toward a compelling and inclusive future."

• Be resolute. No leader "ever accomplishes much by starting out with the 'maybe' attitude," Novak said. "Successful leaders recognize the first responsibility is to define reality and create a shared vision."

• Provide tools. Novak, whose firm oversees Pizza Hut and KFC, says leaders must back their plan by putting the right resources in place.

"This says to your team you really care about getting it done vs. giving it lip service," he said.

• Be courageous. Ineffective leaders often evade or blame others rather than taking responsibility. "When you make a mistake, do you apologize?," Andersen said. "The next time you stumble, say you're sorry and what you'll do differently going forward." This creates loyalty and followers.

• Demonstrate generosity. Do it with more than money.

Try giving others credit for a job well done, Andersen said: "Reflect on how you handle those things, and think about specific ways you can share that wealth."

• Show trust. "Don't make promises you can't keep," Andersen said. "Don't talk about one employee to others. Don't shade the truth. Remember that when you're the leader, people are watching everything you do to see if it lines up with what you say."

• Listen and act. Novak said hearing those you lead is "the most powerful way to motivate your people." Take what they tell you seriously, or they will lack commitment.

• Know your people. By getting inside the heads of those you lead, "you'll have the best chance of motivating them to help you achieve big things," Novak said. "I always ask: 'What perceptions, habits and beliefs do I need to change, build or reinforce to take people with me?'"


• Define your culture. People want to work in organizations that inspire them, Novak says. How a leader conducts himself greatly influences that.

He asked: "What sort of values are you projecting? What kind of atmosphere are you creating? Does it motivate your team to come to work every day feeling supported and appreciated?"

Novak said there's a "tangible difference in results between people working toward a goal because they're being paid to do it vs. working toward a goal because it is a rewarding experience."

• Be complete. Human beings are wired from ancient times to look for certain qualities in leaders, Andersen said: "On an almost instinctive level, we still take that decision very seriously. We need to see those time-tested qualities in a leader before we'll fully sign up."

Doing that gives people the best chance of becoming the best leader they're capable of being, she said, "the kind of leader people look to and say, 'I'm with you — let's go.'"

Four Characteristics Of Pivotal Leadership by Doug Dickerson

http://www.ibtimes.com/exnet/four-characteristics-pivotal-leadership-891102


Pivot -- n; a person or thing upon which progress, success, etc. depends -- World English Dictionary

A story is told about Charles Francis Adams, a 19th century political figure. He kept a diary and one day his entry read: “Went fishing with my son today -- a day wasted.” His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary. His entry was far different than that of his father. His read: “Went fishing with my father -- the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but the son saw it as an investment of time.



The illustration reminds us how our perceptions shape our reality. What the father perceived to be a waste of time was perceived in a totally different light by his son. It also reminds us of the importance of leadership. Leaders come in many stripes and styles and each possess their own unique approach. In short, leadership development is a work in progress.



In considering the qualities of exceptional leadership I turn to a word that is rarely used to define it --pivot. No, it’s probably not the word on the tip of your tongue in your leadership vocabulary. But in the context of the definition above, it might just grow on you. So what are some pivot points of exceptional leaders? Here are a few for your consideration.



A pivotal leader puts forth a clear vision. Success will only come to your business or organization if those in leadership have a clear vision for where it is going.  Leaders who are directionally challenged by a lack of vision will not go far. “A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future," leadership guru Denis Waitley said. "You must break out of your comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.” When a leader presents a clear vision he sets into motion the opportunity for success.



A pivotal leader shapes core values. Core values are the non-negotiable principles of how you operate. These values define who you are, who you hire, the way in which you treat your customers and your competitors, and how your reputation is measured. When decisions flow out of core values it elevates everyone to a higher standard.



A pivotal leader has a positive attitude. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference,” Winston Churchill said. And he’s right. Pivotal leaders are acutely aware of the power of a positive attitude and the difference it can make in their organization. The challenges of leadership can be daunting but a positive attitude will defuse stress, keep the team focused, and build strong morale.



A pivotal leader shows grateful appreciation. One of the endearing attributes of any successful leader is that of gratitude. Smart leaders understand that their success is tied to the hard work and dedication of those around him. When leaders recognize the contributions of others they are exercising a degree of heart intelligence that is just as valuable as their business smarts. Tangible acts of appreciation go a long way in building team confidence and indicate that you recognize that it was a team effort.



Are you a pivotal leader?



Doug Dickerson is a nationally recognized leadership columnist and speaker. He is the author of the new book, "Great Leaders Wanted," and is available to speak for your business. Visit his web site at www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com for more information.

Leadership, Influence & Relationships by Mike Myatt

http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2012/11/10/leadership-influence-relationships/

Have you ever wondered why some people have more influence than others? It’s because they invest more “in” others. Those with influence have built into others through some form of consistent direct or indirect contribution. Those with the greatest amount of influence almost always have the strongest relationships. My hypothesis is a rather simple one: If true leadership is about influence, then influence is about relationships, and relationships are about the investments made into people. In today’s post I’ll examine the ties between leadership, influence and relationships…

You cannot be an effective leader without influence. Let me make this as simple as I can – if you’re a leader, influence needs to be a competency. The key to developing influence is understanding contacts and relationships are not synonymous. Don’t confuse a database with a sphere of influence.

A database consists of information records, and a sphere of influence consists of meaningful relationships built upon a foundation of trust – a point of distinction lost upon many. Spammers and info-product sales people add contacts to a database, while savvy professionals interested in creating influence invest into people for the purpose of creating and sustaining high value relationships.

 As business people nothing is more valuable than the quality of your relationships. Whether you realize it or not, your success in business (and in life) will largely be dependant upon your ability to not only establish key relationships, but in your ability to influence and add value to your relationships. We have all known professionals that have been smarter, more affable, better looking, possess a better CV, or are more talented than their peers, yet they never seem to rise to the top. These professionals who seem to have the whole package yet fail to grab the brass ring simply don’t understand the power of relationships – they’ve failed to invest in people.  Again, leadership isn’t about any single person, but rather a complex ecosystem of meaningful relationships.

Lest you think I’m overly mercenary in my approach, and only view people as pawns in a chess game, let me introduce you to Myatt’s golden rule of building relationships: ”Give, give, give some more, give until it hurts, and then when you have nothing left to give, you guessed it…give even more.” The best relationships are not built on the backs of others, but rather they are built by helping others succeed. It is by building into others and through assisting others in reaching their goals and objectives that you will find success. Reflect back upon your own experience and contrast the responses you’ve received when you ask for help from someone that you’ve previously provided assistance to, versus asking the same favor from a casual acquaintance that you’ve never lifted a finger to help.

When you closely examine the core characteristics of what really makes for great leadership, it’s not power, title, authority or even technical competency that distinguishes truly great leaders. Rather it’s the ability to both earn and keep the loyalty and trust of those whom they lead that sets them apart. Put simply, Leadership is about relationships, and the trust, stewardship, care, concern, service, humility and understanding that need to occur in order to create and nurture them. If you build into those you lead, if you make them better, if you add value to their lives then you will have earned their trust and loyalty. This is the type of bond that will span positional and philosophical gaps, survive mistakes, challenges, downturns and other obstacles that will inevitably occur.

You don’t change mindsets by being right, you do it by showing you care. Logic and reason have their place, but they rarely will overcome a strong emotional or philosophical position. Trying to cram your positional logic down the throat of others will simply leave a very bad taste in their mouths. This is a very tough lesson for many to learn, but a critical one if you take your duties, obligations and responsibilities as a leader seriously. The best leaders are capable of aligning and unifying opposing interests for a greater good. You won’t ever become a truly successful leader until you understand a person’s need to be heard and understood is much more important than satisfying your need to impart wisdom I’m going to make this as simple as I can…leadership is all about relationships. It’s the people – nothing more & nothing less.

Being right isn’t the goal – accomplishing the mission is. If you can only lead those who agree with you then you will have a very small sphere of influence. Stop and think about this for a moment – history is littered with powerful leaders who have fallen, failed, or who have been replaced, usurped or betrayed. Fear doesn’t engender loyalty, respect or trust – it breeds resentment and malcontent. A leader not first and foremost accountable to their people will eventually be held accountable by their people.

Generally speaking there are two types of spheres of influence…those that just evolve over time by default, and those that are strategically engineered. While contacts are rarely purpose driven, relationships are highly intentional. People who are influential have spent years developing relationships spanning geographies, industries, and practice areas. They have invested both time and money developing these relationships to a high level of mutual benefit.

So why is it that most people aren’t as influential as they would like to be? The answer is that most professionals, even if they intellectually understand the benefits of what I’m espousing, just don’t do the work it takes to build an influential network. Great relationships take great amounts of effort, energy and commitment. Think of the most successful people you’ve ever known and they will always seem to know the right person to call on in any given situation to influence or decision the needed outcome. This type of influence doesn’t just happen, rather it has taken years of painstaking effort.

If you want to create a powerful sphere of influence start by taking the following ten steps:

1. Create a Vision: Take pause and examine where you are currently in your professional career as contrasted with where you want to go. Think about the people who could help you reach your destination more quickly and efficiently. Don’t put any artificial ceilings on your thinking – remember that almost anyone on the planet is only a few degrees of separation away from you. Be sure that your vision is based first and foremost on adding value to the lives and careers of others. Building a great relationship has little to do with what you get out of it, but everything to do with what you put into it…

2. Take an Inventory: Once you have a clear vision of where you want to go, take a personal inventory of your contacts and relationships. See who it is that you know, but also pay attention to who they know. Review in detail each and every relationship in your network and rank them on a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the contacts perceived to be of the greatest value to you. Make a detailed relationship plan for each of the people that rank 3 or higher. Take a personal interest in rekindling those relationships and finding out how you can help them succeed.

3. Participate in the Dialogue: Develop a strong core competency, and then give freely of your time and knowledge. Be visible and accessible, and don’t approach business solely based on a “what’s in it for me” attitude. Don’t be a joiner unless you can be a contributor. I belong to a number of organizations I will likely never see a paying client from, but it is through these groups I build relationships that will help me serve my clients. These relationships are only built because of the time I invest in them. Relationships don’t get built overnight, and are not built without active participation.

4. Value Your Network: It is critical you develop a keen understanding of the following point – your network is your business. The core value of your business is not actually steeped in the conventional thinking imparted to you in business school. The reality is the true intrinsic value of a business is in your network, which adds value to your products, services, brand, stakeholders etc. A strong network = sustainability.  It’s your network that will provide you much needed resources, influence and leverage in both good times and bad.

5. Focus on the Positive: Don’t waste time with those who only see problems and flaws, but cannot ever seem to create solutions. The world is full of bitter people, small thinkers, naysayers and those who just get their kicks out of sniping from a safe distance. Remove these people from your network. Associate with energy gainers and not energy drainers. People do business with people they like, and avoid doing business with people they don’t like – it’s just that simple. Are you approachable, positive, affable, trustworthy, a person of character and integrity, or are you someone who is standoffish, pessimistic and generally not to be trusted? Those who fall into the camp of the former as opposed to the latter will find themselves having more influence and success.  The key take away here is that being a jerk doesn’t lead to the creation of influence.

6. Quantity and Quality Both Matter: Successful networking requires an understanding there needs to be a balance between quantity and quality. Well built spheres of influence are both inclusive and exclusive, and while the emphasis should always error on the side of quality, this assumes you have sufficient numbers to create leverage and scale to your networking efforts. You want to avoid at all costs the appearance of simply being in it solely for the numbers, but it is also important not to be viewed as a networking snob who doesn’t reciprocate.

7. Influence is built upon a foundation of trust: If a person is not trusted there is a firm limit on their ability to create and use influence. People will rarely make a leap of faith for someone who hasn’t earned their trust. However most people will gladly take a blind leap of faith for someone whom they have come to trust. Trust matters.

8. Influence is built upon making others successful: This is often times referred to as the law of reciprocity. The theory is that if you invest yourself in making someone else successful, then they in turn will likely be predisposed to helping you become successful. While this principle will not always pan out, in my experience it has held true across the overwhelming majority of my interactions through the years. True influence is rarely built upon the backs of others, but rather by helping others achieve their goals.

9. Influence is most often possessed by those with authority: It is important to realize that there is a reason for the statement “the highest authority is that which is given, and rarely that which is taken.” Authority is most often given to those who display honesty, competency, empathy, expertise and wisdom. With authority comes credibility, and with credibility comes influence. While influence can be wielded by those without authority, it will be limited in both scope and scale. Those with the most authority will always have the most influence.

10. Value and scarcity drive influence: Understanding the value of your position, brand, authority, resources, access to people or knowledge and any number of other items as it relates to fulfilling the needs and desires of others creates influence. To the extent anything under your direct or indirect control is scarce or proprietary your ability to create influence will increase significantly.

Keep in mind the purpose of developing influence is not to manipulate for personal gain, but rather to facilitate for mutual benefit. Take a sincere interest in the success of others, work on your likability factor, become adept at gaining commitment, develop your authority, secure access to things of value and/or scarcity, and your influence with others will increase.

Bottom line – engineer a relationship development plan built upon service, trust, giving and adding value – then work the plan. Before you whine about how much time this will take, consider if you will the potential rewards at stake and ask yourself this question: Can I afford not to do this?

Inside the Successful Leader's Mindset

As a business leader, you are mired in the everyday details of your company's success. You're worried about your bottom line, your sales goals, or your next board meeting. Amid the chaos, it's easy to forget that intangibles -- like your beliefs -- play an important role in your success.

The most successful entrepreneurs share a set of core beliefs that help them persevere as they grow their businesses. These four tips will promote a positive mindset and increase your chances of success:

1. Trust that you'll adapt to new challenges. Successful entrepreneurs approach uncertainty with confidence. When faced with an unfamiliar challenge, they think of similar situations they've handled before or skills sets that might apply. "Focus on the abilities you do have and apply your general knowledge to whatever comes your way," says Matthew Della Porta, a positive psychologist and organizational consultant.

If you focus on your current skills and your ability to learn new ones, you'll be less likely to feel overwhelmed. "Trust your ability to adapt," Della Porta says.

2. Attribute your success to hard work, not luck. Successful leaders believe their achievements are due to hard work, not just lucky circumstance. "That's a result of self-efficacy," Della Porta says, meaning that people who believe they've worked hard trust their ability to master new or unfamiliar skills.

Leaders who are confident in their ability to learn are more likely to seek out and persevere through tough challenges, increasing their chances of success.

3. Believe that you are unique. Every great entrepreneur stands on the shoulders of giants, but successful leaders champion their individuality. In other words, they don't try to become "the next Steve Jobs." To be successful, learn from the people you admire but don't try to emulate them.

"You need to focus on being the first you, not the next someone else," Della Porta says. If you foster the unique strengths that you bring to the table, then you will be far more likely to stand out in a crowded industry.

4. Challenge your negative beliefs. If you want to succeed, stamp out negative beliefs that might be holding you back. "People have a tendency to self-handicap," Della Porta says. For example, an executive who believes he won't meet his sales goals is more likely to prioritize other tasks, giving him a preemptive excuse for a poor performance. His belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Notice the goals or tasks that you shy away from and articulate your beliefs about them. Challenge any negative thoughts by reminding yourself that you will succeed if you apply yourself. When your beliefs are confident and positive, your actions will promote success.

Employee Recognition of the Week

Congratulations to Alex, Jamie, and Christopher! for being nationally recognized in the top 20 most productive reps in the country. Great job, Keep up the good work!

8 Leadership Lessons That Buck Showalter’s Success Teaches Us Leadership

http://www.business2community.com/leadership/8-leadership-lessons-that-buck-showalters-success-teaches-us-0303133

By Lisa Swan, Published October 10, 2012

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter turned around a failing baseball franchise and made the team into a baseball postseason powerhouse. And he did this without the financial resources of the competition, in the toughest division in the game. This is the fourth time the manager has worked such miracles with an MLB team, making the postseason with three different teams. Whether you are a baseball fan or not, there are good leadership lessons to be learned from Showalter’s career that may help you in your company:

Changing the culture:  When Showalter took over as manager of the New York Yankees in 1992, he inherited a team with a slew of malcontents. One of them was an outfielder named Mel Hall, who bullied Bernie Williams, one of the most promising young players on the team. Hall called the shy Williams “Bambi” and treated him badly, hazing him and hurting his confidence. Showalter got rid of players like Hall and saw Williams become a star. Leadership lesson: Don’t be afraid to get rid of bad actors in order to build your work team.

Spotting and developing talent: Former Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly, who played under Showalter and is now an MLB manager himself, said that Showalter has “the ability to spot talent that people miss.” In 1990, as a coach for the Yankees, spotted a young, unheralded pitcher in the lower levels of the Yankees farm system that he knew would be a star. The hurler? Mariano Rivera. Leadership lesson: Learn what makes a great employee at your company, and how to spot diamonds in the rough.

Expecting accountability: Employees are accountable not just to Showalter, but to each other.  As he told the New York Times last month, “When you see something done the wrong way, you say, ‘Hey, that ain’t good enough.’” He said that as time goes on, “you get the players to do that for each other,” where they expect the best from themselves and their teammates.  Leadership lesson: Holding your employees accountable can eventually result in their taking ownership of not just themselves but their co-workers.

Showing no fear of the competition:  Showalter currently manages in the American League East, the team with the toughest competition in baseball, with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays as rivals.  Before he got there, his team played with fear of the superstars on the other teams. For his part, Showalter showed that the teams were nothing to be afraid of by, as he put it, taking the fight to his opponents, exhorting his players to play hard, and giving them a vision of success to strive for. He took the Orioles from 93 losses in 2011 to 93 wins in 2012 and their first playoff appearance in 15 years, a remarkable achievement. Leadership lesson: Don’t be afraid of taking on the big dogs in your industry.

Paying attention to detail:  In each of his managerial stops, Showalter has shown great attention to the little things, from picking the colors of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ uniforms to redesigning the Orioles’ spring training facility to more closely resemble Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the team’s stadium. Doing so has raised the bar as far as creating a team ethos. Leadership lesson: You can change the big things by changing the little things.

Be prepared: Showalter puts in the preparation, staying hours after the game to work on strategy.  He also makes sure to impart this knowledge to his players, so they can execute this strategy. That preparation is one of the reasons why the Orioles have a won-loss record that is 11 games more than they should have this year, given how many runs they score. Leadership lesson: Put in the work if you want to run with the big dogs.

Expecting the best, and establishing consequences: When Showalter first met with his Orioles players after taking over the team in the summer of 2010, he had a dry-erase board in the background listing replacements from each player in the minor leagues. This was done to let the players know that they couldn’t be complacent about their spot on the team. Leadership lesson: Don’t let you staff feel that they can have a job forever, even if they don’t produce.

Changing with the times:  While nobody will ever call Showalter mellow, the 56-year-old manager he showed that he was capable of lightening up a little, and communicating with players 35 years younger, when he got the job with the Orioles after not managing for four years. The notoriously austere manager even allowed the Orioles to have a ping-pong table in his spring training facility, something they didn’t expect him to let him keep. Leadership lesson: Be willing to relax a little if it means gaining better relationships with your staff.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/leadership/8-leadership-lessons-that-buck-showalters-success-teaches-us-0303133#qSpP4sBiF7fE2Iol.99

Congrats Jess! On Winning The National Talent Show At Client Conference

Congrats to our talented Human Resource Director for winning first prize in the talent show at the Eden Roc.  Great Job!!

Have fun with your $1000 grand prize!

Infinite Attends Leadership Conference In Detroit At Ford Motor Company,Gets A Change To Play On Ford Field and MORE

Executives from Infinite were invited to a leadership conference at the Ford Motor Company.  In addition to some great speakers and lessons from successful consultants, the weekend included a trip to the Ford Museum, a charity kickball tournament at Ford Field and a look inside the Lions' locker room.

How to be Successful Before Breakfast - Tom Fox

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-fox/how-to-be-successful-befo_b_1846255.html

Laura Vanderkam is a nationally recognized writer whose focus is on helping her readers rediscover their true passions and beliefs in pursuit of more meaningful lives. She is the author of the new book What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. Vanderkam spoke with Tom Fox, who writes the Washington Post's Federal Coach blog and is the director of the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Government Leadership.

Can you share some of your favorite anecdotes about how successful people use their mornings to accomplish tasks?

I learned that successful people know that mornings are a great time for getting things done. They are the high-impact activities that are important but aren't urgent--like exercise, strategic career thinking, creative work and even focused time with your family.

One of my favorite anecdotes came from a university administrator who had trouble getting things done because of her open-door policy. People would come in her office every few minutes. She figured out a way to fix this. Her daughter played water polo, so she had to be at the pool before 7 a.m. Rather than just bring her daughter to practice and then go home, she decided to go to work.

She would use that early morning quiet time to do focused, big tasks she had to get done because no one was interrupting her at 7 a.m., and then later in the day she would deal with email. She joked that she was doing more before breakfast than she used to get done in a week.

What tips do you have for federal employees who may not have a daughter playing water polo?

Often times, we are not aware of how much time is passing between when we wake up and when we actually start work. I tell people to picture what the perfect morning would look like. What are things you're not doing in your life that you'd like to be doing more of? And are there ways that you can make those things happen in the morning? Work through the logistics and map out a morning schedule. The harder part, of course, is turning it into a habit.

What obstacles do leaders face in implementing this sort of morning plan?

I think the biggest problem is that people wake up in the morning and don't want to get out of bed, and often that is because they've gone to bed too late. The solution to morning problems lies in the night before. The evenings can get away from you. We get distracted on the Internet, watching television or puttering around the house. It is better to give yourself a bed time and then you can reclaim some of those morning hours for something that really would move your life forward and help you achieve your goals.

From your experience, why do so many people struggle with time management?

Since the hours will be filled by something no matter what we do, sometimes it's easier to just go with it and let life happen to you. A lot of problems with time management stem from not thinking about how we'd like to use our time. We just accept that our time is what it is, as opposed to viewing it as a result of the various decisions that we've made over the years.

To quote the late Stephen Covey and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, begin with the end in mind. People don't think about how they spend their time and what their big goals are. The biggest time management problems are not spending too much time on Facebook or running errands. People often ask things like "How can I spend less time emptying the dishwasher?" That's not what time management is about. It's about getting the big things right and making sure that you're investing the right number of hours in things that are important to you.

What keys to success can federal managers learn from highly productive people?

Keep a time log so you can see where the time really goes. From looking at the time logs of extremely successful people, I've learned that they focus on three categories: nurturing their career, nurturing their family and nurturing themselves. As much as possible, they ignore, minimize or outsource everything else. It's not that these people are racing around from one thing to the next. Instead, they are choosing to do things in their down-time that are meaningful and important to them.

Who do you consider to be your role models?

She's not a household name, but I've gotten to know an entrepreneur named Amanda Steinberg. She runs an email financial newsletter called DailyWorth. What I find so fascinating is that she started the company basically the same week she gave birth to her second child. She has shown how you can build a successful small business while also spending a lot of time with your children. Just seeing how people make time for everything that really matters to them has helped me to realize there is nothing incompatible with achieving great things in your personal and professional lives at the same time.

This post was originally featured on The Washington Post's website.

How leaders contribute to organisational success

 http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/308411/how-leaders-contribute-to-organisational-success

'Leadership accounts for, at the very least, 15% of the success of any organisation," the management and leadership studies pioneer Warren Bennis is quoted as saying in The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham. It's a figure that may surprise some people, and it made a good starting point for a recent conversation I had with Chompoo, one of my clients.

"Khun Chompoo, your organisation is a high-performance organisation. How much do you think your CEO accounts for when it comes to its success?" I asked her.

"A lot."

"Give me a guesstimate."

"Fifty percent."

"Wow, that's a lot _ how do you think he merits that high a number?"

"First, he deals with each person individually," she explains to me. "He has eight direct reports. The way he approaches each of them depends on each person's character.

"For example, in the executive committee, he confronts straightforwardly the head of sales because she's an aggressive lady. But when he deals with CFO he's more polite and friendly with her. When he seeks an opinion from our head of operations, who's an introvert, he's more patient, smiles a lot and gives him some time to articulate his thoughts."

I decide to play devil's advocate. "It sounds to me like he has double standards _ no, in fact triple standards for these three executives," I say.

"I asked him the same question," Chompoo replies. "He asked me to check with these three executives to find out what they thought."

"What did they say?"

"They said they didn't perceive his approach as a sign of inconsistency. Each individual is happy with his or her tailor-made style. They said, 'We're unique _ treating the three of us the same would drive us crazy."'

"What else does he do?"

"He hires good people to surround him and turns them into great ones. In his first year, he changed half of the team. Those who were not the right ones were rotated or asked to leave politely. He told me that it's nothing personal _ if someone does not fit a key position, don't waste time waiting for that person to change.

"He told me that if we wanted to be a high-performance organisation, we couldn't compromise on the calibre of those in the key positions.

"Once he got the right people, he gave them authority and accountability. There's no checking for progress on how to do things. Each key person has to figure out the best way to operate. If they needed support they came to seek it from him. He's very decisive in terms of yes or no. You didn't have to waste time guessing with him.

"One thing that he's good at it is expressing a clear vision. He said to us five years ago, 'We grow business with two differentiations: the variety of services and people's capabilities.' If any investment is needed to add value to these two aspects, don't waste time. Whatever resources you need, ask him. Then he arranges them for you. He fought with the head office in Europe for us."

"Do you think that his being an expat helps?" I ask.

"It helps. He's be able to confront and be assertive with the head office. Language is one thing but culture is another. If we had a Thai CEO, we might not push to this degree. But my CEO, he'll push, nag, fight, and also protect his team."

"What else?"

"He knows quite a lot about the people in the company. You can't say that about a lot of chief executives. He knows the nicknames of all the managers one and two levels down the line _ that's about 50 people, considering he has eight direct reports. He also knows a little bit about each one of these people's strengths."

"How does he manage that?"

"He spends time taking part in outside activities of each department. When each department has an outing upcountry, he's there as well. He observes how middle managers interact in workshops and meetings. At night, he joins the party with them. He learns by listening to each person's viewpoint and opinion."

"Khun Chompoo, I notice that all eight direct reports work very hard. I didn't see much in terms of your CEO following up on them. So how does he keep track of progress?"

"In first two years, he did monitor us," she says. "But once he trusted us, he didn't feel it was necessary to be checking on us. Each of us acts like an entrepreneur because our boss acts like one. So we don't think we work for him. This is our business. You only meet with him when you need something. He comes to us from time to time _ mostly to congratulate us on our success."

"That's great. Everyone is so passionate about the work. Nevertheless, you are eager to take on additional assignments. I'm impressed."

"Coach, I give a big credit to the CEO. He has a one-on-one session with each of us once a month. In the meeting, he asks us how we're doing. That's an opportunity for us to share with him on our success stories and our strengths. He listens attentively. He congratulates us.

"Then, he ends each conversation with two great questions: 'That's good. I know you can be great, how do you plan to do it?' And, 'What support do I need to give to make it happen?"'



Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides executive coaching in leadership and diversity management under the brand TheCoach. He can be reached at coachkriengsak@yahoo.com. His columns are available at www.thaicoach.com

What's Going On With Infinite This Month

Congratulations Lindsey and Eric on your recent promotions. We are excited to see you take on your new responsibilities as the company grows. Keep up the good work!

Fun times at Infinite! We went to Minor Tavern last week and were surprised to be joined by The Drive radio station. Kaitlin won two seperate rounds of most puts sank in a minute AND 2 seperate rounds of golf to Bowlingbrook golf course. Great times. Looking for another great week of team outing fun this week!


Congratulations Lindsey and Eric on your recent promotions. We are excited to see you take on your new responsibilities as the company grows. Keep up the good work!

Congratulations to executives at Infinite for being rewarded with a trip to visit a client office in Indiana.  

Infinite Executives Travel To Detroit For Leadership Conference - Edsel Ford - Keynote Speaker

Executives from Infinite will be attending a weekend leadership retreat in Detroit.

The company will be joining executives from corporations across the country to share successful management techniques and learn from consultants tips on successful business practices.  In addition, the grandson of Henry Ford, Edsel Ford will be the Keynote Guest Speaker.

It will be an exciting weekend and we expect even more growth based on what we bring back from the experience.