Time Management

Now!! Get Your Projects Done On Time!

By Brandon W. Jones on October 20, 2014 0

“Today is the deadline! You promised me that project would be done on time! Why is this project late?” “What are you going to do to get this job done now!?” If you have heard these statements and questions as a leader, you are not alone.

Get Your Projects Done on Time

Leaders everywhere are trying to produce quality results on time and within budget. In leadership, it is very important to get your desired results. So how do you get your employees to produce the desired results? It starts with two things.

First, you must properly explain the desired outcome at the start of the project.

In order to get the desired results, leaders must clearly explain their expectations. They must also identify the scope of the project and give clear objectives. In addition, the leader must let each person know what their specific responsibilities are and how their part fits into the entire project. Once you, as the leader, show them the big picture, they will have a greater sense of purpose as they do their part. In line with setting clear expectations, you must lay out the timeline, so everyone knows their due dates. As a final step, you must hold each person responsible to do their part. When they don’t do their part, you must follow through with the consequences. [Read more…] about Now!! Get Your Projects Done On Time!

5 Of The Most Common Leadership Mistakes

By Brandon W. Jones on July 21, 2014 0

This is a guest post by Sophie Eagan. She is a leadership writer for 360 Degrees Feedback. Sophie has worked in HR since she was just 16 years old, she knows full well the common leadership mistakes that can be made by leaders. She has specific experience in leadership feedback and regularly emphasizes the importance of requesting feedback from within ones own company to identify problems before they arise.

A lot of people do say that it is better to make leadership mistakes as these provide the perfect learning curve, though it is much better to make these mistakes away from the field, or even making them in the first place! I am going to discuss the most common leadership mistakes and management errors, this should hopefully deter you from making the same mistakes, if you can learn about that here in this article, rather than through experience you will save yourself a lot of trouble.

1. The Absence Of Feedback

Let’s say, you have a fantastic sales representative, but they have a habit of answering the phone in an unprofessional manner. You do know about this but would much prefer to wait for the review to come up so you can bring it up. This is a big problem, until they have actually been told about the problem, they will continue to do the exact same thing, putting off potential customers. By not providing the correct feedback you are actually starving your staff of the opportunity to improve their performance.

2. Having No Time For The Team

Being a manager or a leader of a team, you can sometimes wrap yourself up so much in your own work that you do not have time for the team what so ever. Everyone has deadlines and projects they need to hand in on time, it is not just you! Without proper guidance and support, none of your team will actually know what to do and therefore won’t meet any of their objectives, which can put certain projects behind for weeks or even months! You can avoid this mistake by making blocks in your schedule solely for your team, you want your door to “always be open”. [Read more…] about 5 Of The Most Common Leadership Mistakes

Be Strategic in Your Posts

By Brandon W. Jones on December 31, 2013 0

Over the last two years I have gone back and forth on how I wrote posts for Leadership Done Right. Sometimes I have been really strategic, while other times I just posted whatever was on my mind. Through this process I have learned some valuable lessons. One lesson I learned is that it is very important to be strategic in your posts.

Why should you be strategic?

1. So your audience knows what to expect. When you are strategic, you choose specific themes and let your audience know when and why you will talk about them. They should also know what you will post about and how it will help them. It also lets them know when to expect a new post. This helps your audience stay in tune with what you will talk about.

2. To create value for your audience. People are not going to come to your website unless they learn something, gain a new insight, or receive some other value. When you are strategic, your purpose is to write quality posts for your audience. You write with value creation as your main theme. [Read more…] about Be Strategic in Your Posts

The Value Of Constructive Feedback

By Brandon W. Jones on May 10, 2013 3

In leadership, constructive feedback is extremely valuable. Constructive feedback helps you know your strengths and weaknesses. It also identifies areas for personal improvement so you can be more effective in your leadership. Requesting constructive feedback from others also helps you to be more humble.

Request Constructive Feedback

I had a friend named Judy that rubbed people the wrong way. She did it regularly and didn’t even realize it. She thought, however, that she was great with people. She spoke condescendingly to others. Judy never asked for feedback from others on her behavior. She was completely oblivious to how others perceived her.

After a time, Judy’s behavior frustrated others and she found out the hard way. Jill, one of the employees that Judy worked with, quit her job to go back to school. As Jill was leaving, she had an exit interview with HR. She was asked what she liked and disliked about the department. Jill had nothing but negative things to say about Judy. [Read more…] about The Value Of Constructive Feedback

What Do You Do Every Four Years?

By Brandon W. Jones on February 29, 2012 0

Since February 29th only comes around every four years, I decided to do a little different type of post. I researched some things that happened on this unique day.

The following things happened on February 29th:

1504 – Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians
1796 – Jay’s Treaty proclaimed, settles some differences with England
1848 – Neufchatel declares independence of Switzerland
1880 – Gotthard railway tunnel between Switzerland & Italy completed
1892 – Britian & US sign treaty on seal hunting in Bering Sea
[Read more…] about What Do You Do Every Four Years?

Leadership Lessons From the Iowa Caucus

By Brandon W. Jones on January 6, 2012 0

As the Iowa caucus came to a close the results were so close that only eight votes separated the top two candidates. It was the closest presidential GOP contest in U.S. history and Mitt Romney came out as the winner. The close finish made me ask questions about what factors led to the resulting eight vote difference. Because it is politics, there were many factors that led to a close finish, but I am going to look at just a few that relate to leadership.

To understand the leadership implications, we must first look at the background. In 2008, Mitt Romney was the runner-up in the Iowa republican caucus. Since then, he has maintained a high level of support with relatively minimal effort. Because of this support, he did a limited amount of campaigning until the last three weeks prior to the caucus. On the other hand, Rick Santorum spent a lot of time and effort doing door-to-door campaigning. Santorum had a lot of people on the ground representing him. [Read more…] about Leadership Lessons From the Iowa Caucus