Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Way It Works. - Douglas Castle

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The Way It Works.

Dear Friends:

The way it works ("it" being the essence of all things important in life), is not what the way we were taught. In an increasingly distraught world where established systems are rapidly de-stabilizing...in a time where we are suffering the leaden depression associated with repeated disillusionment...in a world of turbulence, spinning ever-faster and more erratically, we might just have to look at things in a new way.

It is no longer sensible to adhere to the childhood warrior philosophy of "divide and conquer."

For most of us, it is now the time to "unite and dominate." When old ways of thinking fail us, it is time to modify our approach to dealing with life.

Faithfully,

Douglas


Douglas Castle
Join my TNNWC Group, LLC collaborative business community (GICBC) at no cost by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Friends & Colleagues: Douglas Castle will be missing (and even more out of touch than usual!) from 6/17 - 6/23. Please keep a light on.

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Friends and Colleagues: Douglas Castle will be missing (and even more out of touch than usual!) from 6/17 - 6/23. Please keep a light on.



Douglas Castle
Join my TNNWC Group, LLC collaborative business community (GICBC) at no cost by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

GICBC - The Time Is Now

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SUPPORT THE GICBC MOVEMENT

It is time to be a part of something world-changing; something that Matters. Let's MAKE the future together, instead of waiting for governments, banks and monopolists to “SAVE” us. Please show your support and be a part of the GICBC Movement. Join our Facebook Fan Page at http://bit.ly/GICBCfanpage . Read on:    


GICBC*:  STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

United, organized, and democratically self-governing, each of us will be secure, stronger and more prosperous. Working together collaboratively, our resources will grow exponentially, and we will achieve limitless accomplishments and success.

Through Membership in the GICBC, we will each reclaim our lost power…the power to control our own destinies, to realize our dreams and to build the future on our own terms.

Acting harmoniously, and joining our hearts, our hands and our minds, we become far greater than the sum of each of our Members – we have the voice, influence and towering presence of a Giant. And we need no longer be at the mercy of any institution with self-proclaimed authority over our lives, our freedoms and our fortunes.
-----
*Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community.

It is crucial for initiators, innovators, entrepreneurs and emerging enterprises to join the GICBC (Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community) Movement by 1) becoming a Member of TNNWC [you are invited to join for free] at http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC  and to show your support for the freedom and the growth of Human Entrepreneurial Potential by 2)  becoming a FAN on our Facebook Page at http://bit.ly/GICBCfanpage . Learn much more about the GICBC by visiting http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com  -- just use the navigation tool and click on GICBC.

Douglas Castle
Join my TNNWC Group, LLC collaborative business community (GICBC) at no cost by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC.

Monday, June 07, 2010

THE MAGIC OF ASSUMPTIVE MANAGEMENT!

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THE MAGIC OF ASSUMPTIVE MANAGEMENT!

Dear Colleagues:

Throughout our lives, people are telling us not to assume. It is thought that assumption leads to poor preparation, rushing to judgment, unrealistic expectations, and other terrible things. I have discovered two exceptional situations where it is always helpful to assume -- in fact, if you don't make these assumptions, it is more than likely that you will not be successful as a manager. ASSUMPTIVE MANAGEMENT has only two general rules, and they are outline in the friendly bit of correspondence which follows. Enjoy it.
---------------

Dear Anonymous Person In A Non- Military Managerial Position:

You should consider making certain that each person who reports to you is reminded at least weekly (a day or two in advance) as to what his or her recurring obligations are, and that you expect them to be fulfilled properly and promptly. This applies to every single person in your charge even if he or she has been performing these obligations faithfully for a very long time, i.e., since the paleolithic era.

ASSUMPTION A:  You see, people get "busy," "distracted," or "confused" more frequently than you'd every suspect and they just simply forget. -- this even happens at nuclear power facilities, or at offshore oil drilling stations. And even worse than forgetting, sometimes these individuals just don't really care because they are either 1) unmotivated or 2) don't see the significance of what they are being relied upon to do. 

ASSUMPTION B:  When instructing others, assume zero comprehension and zero retention. This will ensure that you become a better communicator and a more frequent one, at that. When people in a subordinate role to you do not understand what you are talking about, they will seldom say "would you please be more specific?" or "If I may paraphrase what you are asking, you'd like me to......" What they do instead is any one or more of the following:
  • remain silent until dismissed
  • Give an affirmative nod of the head and go "umm - hmm."
  • leave the meeting and ask each other what you might have talking about, in a classic example of the blind leading the blind.
You must be specific in every aspect of your instructions. State them clearly. Outline them in a concise bulletin. Ask each member of your audience (one on one), or at very least several members to explain to you precisely what they are going to do based upon what you've said. You needn't even be as obvious as to ask "Now what did I say for you to do?" It's easier to use a bit of social lubricant and ask something like this (with a furrowed brow): "Do you think that you can handle it? What do you think that your first steps are going to be? Gosh, I'm curious..." It might help to visualize (in your mind's eye) a sportscaster catching a quick interview with a famous, albeit somewhat non-academic football or basketball star.

To truly put this technique to the test, within a day or two, ask the same questions and add, "so what moves have you made so far?" You may get a response indicative of comprehension and progress, some jibberish that sounds like a schizophrenic utterance, or a blank stare. Statistically, my guess is that you get the second or third response much more frequently than the first.

On a positive note, if you repeatly perform this special ritual (you can even carry a toy microphone with you!), with a number of the people who are working for you, you notice that the first type of response will occur with increasing frequency.

An employee once asked me, "When are you going to stop hounding me about this?" I responded very honestly, but not unkindly: "I don't mean to hound you at all! I apologize if you thought that! I'm merely going to continue asking you until you can explain what you are doing, and how much progress you've made. Let's talk again later, okay?"

Do you hear me, aspiring Commanders, Team Leaders and Managers?

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
Join my TNNWC Group, LLC collaborative business community (GICBC) at no cost by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

INDECISION: The Costliest Course Of All.

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INDECISION: The Costliest Course Of All.
Dear Friends:

If you do not make decisions, you will experience your life at the whim of others who will decide for you. If you cannot make decisions, you have no business being a manager or a leader. If you repeatedly demonstrate indecisiveness, you will lose your influence, your effectiveness, and your following. If you surrender your power of choice to others, you will not only lose your power permanently, but you will be looked upon as someone who was not worthy of power from the very outset.

A leader who permits himself or herself to be led by his or her subordinates, is not a leader, but a puppet, and will eventually be seen as such.

This is NOT a post about politics. This IS a post about leadership.

Here are some examples, right from the White House:

1.     United States President Obama permitted the US Fed, under the reign of Ben Bernanke, limitless, unsupervised lattitude to bail out failing financial institutions (failing due to their own ineptitude, avarice, sense of entitlement, 'creative accounting', government incest and toothless legislation, regulation and law enforcement) by issuing them unprecedented sums of fiat money without any significant strings, for which the US taxpaying public will ultimately have to pay with real earnings from real productive activity. Imagine rewarding bad behavior, flooding the market with currency backed by a bankrupt government's "promise to pay", and then punishing the victims of the crime (the depositors, borrowers, pensioners, smaller businesses and  individual taxpayers) by making them use their labors to reimburse an overextended government for rewarding the guilty?

To date, this money has not seen its way into the economy, jobs creation, small business lending or any type of productive stimulus. It has found its way into the wallets of some ruthless executives, and into more market speculation and other dangerously risky things -- the things that caused the damage in the first place.

Did this president inherit a damaged, indebted economy and a heat map of military efforts and policing all over the globe? -- yes he did. Perhaps that was former US President Bush's heavy-handed legacy. But while Bush will be remembered (regardless of your personal politics) as an aggressive, arrogant leader, he will be remembered as a president.


2.       The BP offshore oil tragedy -- an environmental and economic disaster to make Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez look like parking tickets -- presented an opportunity for a president to be a leader, and coordinate the efforts of the federal agencies and forces and the Louisiana government to grap BP by the pipe and force it to contain its spills...to demand that it pay every single penny associated with the cost of the cleanup, and to fine it daily for every spilled barrel.

Who is leading the cleanup? BP. A president abdicates decisiveness and enforcement power at a great loss to his own perceived leadership, but also at a loss to the ecology and economy of the entire United States. Fining BP could absolutely help narrow the federal budget deficit, while also encouraging BP to own up to its own negligence, duplicity and greed and pay the price. Who will pay (aside from the democratic party in terms of positioning)? The US Taxpayers.

To trowel some bloody icing onto the ever-growing fecal cake, a leader gives executive orders and sees to their enforcement. This leader is a study in cajoling, compromising and begging. He should be issuing orders and expecting them to be carried out.

His ideals and agenda notwithstanding, a leader seizes the opportunity to exert power, lest he be seen as a toothless tiger. I did not care for George Bush, but the scrappy, pompous little king of the malaprop ("this is not rocket surgery...") with a wanton disregard and almost palpable disgust for either the interests of the middle-class or the Constitution (and the law in general) was a leader. He did quite a bit of damage to the United States' economy and to its international relationships with other sovereigns, but he was feared and respected.

The current President, Barack Obama, ideals and agenda notwithstanding, presents a whole new problem -- he is failing in his role as a leader, and many parties will be irreparably injured by his repeated inability or reluctance to act precipitously and immediately.
---------------

Given a choice, your average slave to the republic would rather have a fierce leader who makes decisions that create catastrophes than a benign, capitulative but well-intended leader who doesn't use the power which the People have vested in him.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Keywords, Labels and Terms: indecision, unenforcement, wavering, leadership, command skills, power vacuum, Articles by Douglas Castle, TNNWC Group LLC, Taking Command, posturing, positioning, confidence, fear, avoidance, palliative measures, ineffective compromise, procrastination, abdicating responsibility...


About Douglas Castle
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The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
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The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
LINKS 4 LIFE - Crisis resources.
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Tuesday, June 01, 2010

COMMUNICATE! - For Optimal Goal Attainment: An Extra Bit Of Work At The Beginning Can Prevent Lots of Wasted Time Later.

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Dear Friends:

To be an effective leader, you must be a skilled communicator. Giving orders that are either unclear or conflictory are very inefficient.

To be an effective implementer, contractor, employee or team member, you must also be a skilled communicator. If you misunderstand your role, responsibilities or priorities, you are doomed to fail at performing any task.

Communication between two individuals has several components, and none of them should be admitted in a business dialogue......and although it begins with the leader, the other party (i.e., the "initial listener") must, of necessity, participate:

1. The leader gives clear directives, the reason for them, and the end result that is expected to be accomplished;

2. The initial listener acknowledges by paraphrasing to the leader, what he or she believes he or she is to do. If the directives seem "out of sync" with the reason given for them, or the desired end result, NOW is the time to clarify points or make any observations as to any conflicts or possible means of improving efficiency. This acknowledgment gives the initial listener a chance to make suggestions, register concerns, and to let the leader know if he or she has been totally clear;

3. The leader either agrees, clarifies, or changes the directives to accommodate a suggestion made by the initial listener;

4. The leader sets up a schedule of times (throughout the process) to monitor and review the progress and process, to be certain that the work being performed is a) of proper quality and on schedule, and is b)  following the necessary trajectory to achieve the desired end result;

5. During the progress of the process, the initial listener should render feedback (assertively) to the leader in the event of any errors, anticipated problems, confusion, failure to meet a promised deadline or change in priorities due to changing or conflictory circumstances.

Frequent, candid communication is always crucial.

Clarity in communication (sometimes giving examples to demonstrate points) is always crucial.

Continuous feedback prevents veering "off-course, " stalling in the work effort, and compounding errors. 

If you have given a directive and there is silence from your initial listener, you have already begun to fail in your communications effort. Never take for granted that your listeners understand you unless they can paraphrase back to you (with vigor and enthusiam) what they are going to do.

***Oh, and listeners who depart your meeting to embark on their missions without any questions may not have any idea of what you want -- more likely, they are confused (and will work on a tentative, trial-and-error basis), have many questions (but are embarrassed to ask them), or are in a hurry to leave because they were bored by the encounter.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

About Douglas Castle
Douglas Castle - LinkedIn Profile 
The National Networker Companies
Braintenance - Stay razor sharp.
The Internationalist Page - A world without barriers.
The Global Futurist - Revealing trends.
Taking Command! - Mastering your fate.
LINKS 4 LIFE - Crisis resources.
Follow Castle on Twitter 
Follow TNNWC on Twitter
Join Us: Become a Member of the TNNWC Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community (GICBC) at no cost. Click on http://bit.ly/TNNWC


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