Leading people and organizations is fundamentally more complicated than it was 20 years ago—and it’s not getting any easier. Economic and global uncertainties, along with innovative technologies, complicate efforts to run a business.

Businesses are also becoming more intrinsically complex. It’s harder to predict outcomes because intricate systems interact in unexpected ways.

Interpreting data also proves more challenging because:

1. The degree of complexity may lie beyond our cognitive limits.
2. Past behavior may not predict future actions.
3. In a complex system, an outlier may have a disproportionate impact.

Staying on track is much easier with a guide or checklist. Michael Useem, a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and bestselling author of  The Leadership Moment, has published The Leader’s Checklist to create a clear roadmap for navigating any situation. Key questions help customize the list to fit specific needs.

This article summarizes the leader’s checklist for clarity for managing complex organizations.
_________________________________________________________________________

This is a brief synopsis of a 1800 & 1000-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1800-word article includes these important concepts:

• Complicated Versus Complex
• Managerial Blindness
• Real Cooperation
• 12 Leader Checkpoints

————————————————————————————

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

a.     Text, 1800-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $79 –
         A Dashboard for Managing Complexity – 1800-word article, reprint rights

b.     Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –
         A Dashboard for Managing Complexity - 1000-word article, reprint rights

c.     5 Article Nuggets, a series of blog-style content with Full Reprint Rights, $89 –
        A Dashboard for Managing Complexity - 5 Article Nuggets, blog-style, first-person pronoun, links

What good are positive emotions in the workplace?

As scientists study the brain and learn more about how we achieve optimal functioning, the term positivity has finally captured business leaders’ interests.

One study of CEOs showed that training to be more positive could boost their productivity by 15 percent, and managers improved customer satisfaction by 42 percent. Despite such training’s amazing results, many leaders remain completely unfamiliar with the concept.

Being positive isn’t simply about being nice and giving in, nor does it mean suppressing negative information and emotions. Both are critical for optimal performance. Apparently, however, a 3:1 positivity-to-negativity ratio is the tipping point for individuals and business teams to go from average to flourishing.

In business, positive emotions yield:

• Better decisions. Researchers at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business studied how positive moods affect managers. Managers who were more positive were more accurate and careful in making decisions, and were more effective interpersonally.

• Better team work. Managers with positive emotions infect their work groups with similar feelings and show improved team coordination, while reporting less effort to accomplish more.

• Better negotiating. At Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, researchers learned that when people negotiate complex bargains, being positive surfaces as a contributing factor for success. Negotiators who strategically display positivity are more likely to gain concessions, close deals and incorporate future business relationships into the contracts they seal.

This article examines how positivity benefits business and how you can raise your positivity-to-negativity ratio and flourish.

___________________________

This is a brief synopsis of a 1700 & 1000-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1700 word article includes these important concepts:

• Emotions’ Role in Business
• The Broaden-and-Build Model of Positive Emotions
• Positivity and High Performance
• The Tipping Point: 3:1 Positivity Ratio
• Improve Your Ratio
• Raise Your Positivity

___________________________

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

a.      Text, 1700-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $79 –
The Business Case for Positivity – 1700-word article, reprint rights

b.     Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –
The Business Case for Positivity – 1700-word article, reprint rights

c.     5 Article Nuggets, a series of blog-style content with Full Reprint Rights, $89 -
The Business Case for Positivity -  5 article nuggets, blog-style, first-person pronoun, links

It’s no wonder that so many people count themselves among the zombies who show up for work each day. When two-thirds of people report feeling tired or bored at work, it’s time to ask why—and what can be done.

If you feel as though you’re going through the motions, without experiencing any real joy from your work, it’s time to address the underlying reasons. Boredom’s causes vary, so you’ll need to stare reality in the face and see if you recognize any of these hard truths:

• You’re on autopilot
• Your energy level is low
• You find yourself conforming
• You’re underwhelmed
• You’re overwhelmed
• You don’t like your job

It’s easy to dismiss critical “stuck points” in your career as temporary boredom. In actuality, boredom is a sign that you need to do something else. The longer it lasts, the harder it is to get “unstuck.”

In the end, boredom can seriously undermine others’ perceptions of your potential, as well as your chances for more interesting work opportunities. Speak up and discuss its causes and solutions. Your brain craves interesting things to do.

_________________________________________

This article suggests action steps you can take right now to break boredom and start experiencing meaning and purpose once again.

_________________________________________

This is a brief synopsis of a personal development article, suitable for coach newsletters or blogs to individuals. It is available for purchase in 1000-word or Article Nugget format with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

Are You Bored—or Boring?
The Brain Science Behind Boredom

Order Links to purchase this article:
1.  Click HERE:  Are You Bored-or Boring? Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –

2.  Click HERE: Are You Bored-or Boring? Article Nuggets, with Full Reprint Rights, $64 –

Most managers want their people to achieve excellence at work. We really can’t ask for more. In fact, peak performance can be defined as a combination of:

• Excellence
• Consistency
• Ongoing improvement

How can managers bring out the best in their people?

To achieve peak performance, each person must find the right job, tasks and conditions that match his or her strengths. Facilitating the right fit therefore becomes one of a manager’s most crucial responsibilities. While every employee has the potential to deliver peak performance, it’s up to the manager to find ways to make it happen.

It’s easy to spot peak performance when it happens. It’s what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008). Employees who work at optimum levels experience a state of “flow,” typically losing themselves in a project, meeting or discussion. They may lose track of time or where they are.

Each of us has relished such moments, but it’s hard to purposely replicate “flow” experiences. Many managers struggle to find the right words to rekindle motivation in people who have lost their enthusiasm.
Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, author of Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People (Harvard Business Press, 2011) has researched behavior and performance to define a Cycle of Excellence that leads to optimal performance.

This article examines new research into five critical steps managers can apply to maximize employees’ peak performance.
_____________________________________________________

This is a brief synopsis of a 2000 & 1000-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 2,000 word article includes these important concepts:

• Two Sides of the Disengagement Coin
• Using Brain Science to Bring Out the Best
  • Step 1: Select
  • Step 2: Connect
  • Step 3: Play
  • Step 4: Grapple and Grow
  • Step 5: Shine

• Maintaining Excellence in Uncertain Times

_____________________________________

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

a.    Text, 2000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $79 –
Managing for Peak Performance – 2000-word article, reprint rights

b.   Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –
Managing for Peak Performance – 1000-word article, reprint rights

c.    5 Article Nuggets, a series of blog-style content with Full Reprint Rights, $89 -
Managing for Peak Performance – 5 article nuggets, blog-style, first-person pronoun, links

How many times have you screamed to yourself: “There is too much information online! Make it stop! Argh!”

According to a 2009 study conducted by the University of California, San Diego, Americans consume on average approximately 34 gigabytes of information a day. This translates to about 100,000 words of information in a single 24-hour period.

Our culture, work and media celebrate our unfettered access to music, video games, television, and websites. But overloading the human brain has negative consequences. Many people worry what this information gluttony is doing to their mental and physical health.

Rates of repetitive stress disorders, such as computer-related eye strain and carpal tunnel syndrome (from excess computer use), are rising, along with rates of Attention Deficit Disorder. Lack of focus is a common complaint. Lack of time is another.

An Internet search for things like “info overload cure,” reveals thousands of articles about what to do. Many of these articles have good advice. But there again, it’s possible to get snowed under by an avalanche of information about information overload.
—
This article suggests eight actions steps you can take right now to simplify your life and clear your mind.

———————————————–

This is a brief synopsis of a 1000-word article suitable for coach newsletters. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1,000 word article includes the following concepts:

• Be Satisfied with Less
• Use the 80:20 rule
• Use Parkinson’s Law
• Use a Productivity System
• Meditate
• Cut Off the Flow
• Outsource
• Information Diet
• Tips 9 through 45,276

——————————————————————————–

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

1.  Click HERE: Stop Information Overload Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –

2.  Click HERE: Stop Information Overload 3 Article Nuggets, with Full Reprint Rights, $64 -

[Content marketing articles for coaches and consultants: 1000 words on Business Writing Skills]

There’s no better way to approach business writing than to keep three realities in mind:

1.    Business readers are content-driven.
2.    Readers are pressed for time.
3.    Readers are seeking solutions.

But there are too many contradictory rules for composing a business report:

• Writing should be clear — but it should also “sound good.”
• Information should be simple and straightforward, yet cleverly composed to stand out.
• Get to the bottom line quickly, but don’t leave out background details.

If you need to compose a report, proposal, memo or email, you undoubtedly want to write effectively, without agonizing over every word. Keep the following points in mind to save time and energy, while avoiding the need for numerous rewrites:

1. Our writing skills were developed in school. The fundamentals aren’t good enough for today’s fast-paced, time-pressed business environment.
2. When you’re juggling contradictory ideas about style, presentation and level of detail, your results can come across as fuzzy and uncertain, which undermines your intent.
3. Your writing skill determines whether you get your foot in the door to further the conversation. If you can’t make your case in writing, you may not get the chance to make a presentation.

Writing should be like a good butler, smoothly working to serve the reader without calling attention to itself.

This article gives tips for improving business writing skills, no matter the task, so that your message gets read, gets forwarded and gets results.

——————————

This is a brief synopsis of a 1000-word article suitable for coach newsletters. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1,000 word article includes these important concepts:

• The Introduction: Problem, Questions, Solution
• The Body: Organizing Ideas
• Classic Writing Tips

——————————————————————————–

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order links below.

Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –
Click HERE:
How to Improve Your Business Writing Skills

In the business world, where time management is always a priority, multitasking skills are expected, especially in younger workers reared in multiple media environments (i.e., computers, iPods, iPhones, TV, video games, online social sites, texting and instant messaging).

Beginning in 2005, however, studies began to show that distractions negatively affected productivity and efficiency. A study funded by Hewlett-Packard and conducted by the University of London’s Institute of Psychiatry found that “workers distracted by email and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers.”

A second study found that it took an average of 25 minutes for workers to recover from interruptions (phone calls, emails) and return to their original tasks.

On expert estimates that extreme multitasking and information overload cost the U.S. economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity.

The brain doesn’t handle more than one problem well. While we can certainly walk and chew gum at the same time, we cannot pay attention to multiple challenges. Instead, the brain must switch tasks, using up time and energy. And when task-switching is poorly executed, we waste time and make mistakes.

All the research in the world won’t discourage us from juggling more than one ball. So, if we’re going to multitask, how can we do it effectively?

This article gives 10 tips for getting more done.

—————————————————————-

This is a brief synopsis of a 1000-word article suitable for coach newsletters. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 1,000 word article includes these important concepts:

• The Art of Paying Attention
• Smart Multitasking
• 10 Tips for Getting More Done

——————————————————————————–

If you are a Content for Coaches client and your account is current, no need to order. Send me an email to confirm that you wish to use this article for your next newsletter.

All others please use the order link below.

Order Links to purchase this article:

Text, 1000-word Article with Full Reprint Rights, $57 –

Debunking Multitasking Myths:
10 Tips for Getting More Done