Better Business Focus newsletter – February 2021

You can now download the February issue of Better Business Focus . Please feel free to e-mail Better Business Focus to your friends or colleagues.

Better Business Focus: Expert Inspiration for a Better Business.

Better Business Focus is the essential key for business owners and managers. It achieves that by focusing on the way in which successful businesses compete and manage their organisations.  It focuses on how people are recruited, coached and developed; on how marketing and selling is undertaken in professional markets as well as in markets with intense competition; on how technology and the Internet is reshaping the face of domestic and home business; and on how people are being equipped with new skills and techniques. In short, it offers expert inspiration for a better business.

Below is a selection of articles from this month’s issue, and we hope you enjoy the read!

  • Shawn Nason – Raising a glass to courage, simplicity, and conviction: No matter how you’ve been affected by all the disruptive events of the past year, I think you’ll agree that we’re no longer the people we were a year ago. 
  • Dr Lynda Shaw – How to cope with burnout: During these unprecedented times more and more people are feeling overwhelmed, with women in particular taking most of the brunt of working from home whilst simultaneously juggling the children who may or may not be at school.  A recent survey in Canada* found that younger men and women aged between 20-35, and 55 years and over, are particularly susceptible to feelings of burnout. But anyone including teenagers can feel burnout. 
  • Sunil Bali – Simply irresistible…: The cultural critic and writer Maria Popova wrote, “Life is a continuous process of arrival, into who we really are. Life keeps presenting the lessons we need to learn, until we finally learn them and trust who we are.”
  • Thom Dennis – Why we have always worn a mask at work (and how Covid-19 has further shaped them): Wearing a mask has never been more important and is saving lives globally, but in business, at home and socially we already wear a number of masks according to the multiple roles that we play in modern day life, from lawyer to mother to wife to cleaner to runner.  Positive future leadership calls for much greater levels of self-awareness. 
  • David Burkus – What makes a great remote worker? Most leaders probably didn’t head into the great work-from-home experiment of 2020 assuming we’d need to know anything about hiring people remotely. In fact, most leaders struggled with the opposite issues when the initial economic downturn began.
  • David Finkel – The best business partnerships are built on trust – and a solid contract: Starting a new business can be exciting and terrifying at the same time. There are so many variables to consider, and a million things on your to-do list. And for many business owners, they aren’t doing it alone.
  • Amy Vetter – 3 ways to effectively manage remote teams: We’ve all heard the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind.” In an age of ever-increasing remote work, however, we may change that phrase to say, “Out of sight, top of mind.”
  • Urko Wood – Innovation sets the stage for creativity: One reason people mistakenly think that innovation is inherently risky is because they confuse it with creativity. Innovation and creativity are different.
  •  August J. Aquila – What 12 things keeps MPs awake at night? One-firm. The question that still haunts firms today is purpose. In other words, does the firm exist to serve the desires of the partners, or is the firm itself greater than any individual or group of partners.
  • Pete Foley – Business Growth & Innovation after Covid-19: Covid-19 is of course a massive human tragedy. There is the obvious cost in human life and health, and also an economic cost that will no doubt echo for years to come.  But as painful as recent changes in our world have been for so many, they also provide a unique opportunity for agile businesses and entrepreneurs.
  • Paul Sloane – Seven verbs which define great leaders of Innovation: Leaders of innovation have a bias for action. They get on with things. No matter how well the business is doing they are not content to settle for what has been achieved so far; they are restless to try new initiatives. These seven verbs describe some of their key actions.
  • Tom Koulopoulos – Tony Robbins says this one trait is what it takes to succeed: A Trait that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson Share.  Understanding the key to success is just the start of understanding what motivates you and those around you.
  • Janet Sernack – Strategic and Systemic Alignment – why they really matter: In my early days at Compass Learning, I designed and delivered a wide range of top team strategic alignment and development programs. Where the focus was on enabling and empowering team members to metaphorically “sing from the same song sheet” – by agreeing to and articulating a common purpose, clarifying roles and goals and driving mutual accountability.
  • Martin Pollins – Save time by using shortcuts on your Keyboard: Handy shortcut tips.
  • Greg Satell – How Amazon Innovates: In 2014, Stephenie Landry was finishing up her one-year stint as Technical Advisor to Jeff Wilke, who oversees Amazon’s worldwide consumer business, which is a mentor program that allows high potential executives to shadow a senior leader and learn first-hand. Her next assignment would define her career.
  • Benjamin Hardy – Turn your alarm clock into a positive trigger: You can wake up first thing in the morning with excitement. You can hear that alarm, get up, and your mind is already sharp.  But in order to do so, you need to do a few things first.
  • Andy Bounds – The six simplest ways to make your communications miles better: I like this Tip.  Because it shows you the six simplest ways to: •  Make your comms miles better •  In the shortest possible time.
  • Jeff Eilertsen – Leading with service during the Covid-19 Pandemic: As the Coronavirus spreads, it brings new and unique challenges to organizations in every industry in all parts of the world.  People are working in a time of tremendous uncertainty and stress.

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