Impact Impression Blog

Most people do their best work when they know their manager trusts them. If they worry that you think they’re lazy, incapable of directing their behavior, or lack integrity, they’re unlikely to take feedback or coaching from you. So go out of your way to gain your employees’ trust by demonstrating positive assumptions about them. Give challenging assignments, with the clear and confident belief that your expectations will be met. And don’t hide information, or assume people will mishandle it. Instead, promote transparency. Try adding a “through the grapevine” agenda item to meetings as a fun, informal way for people to share company information they’ve heard, so you can either confirm or debunk the rumor. When managers demonstrate positive assumptions, employees respond in kind. [HBR]

Making other people better at something requires more effort than we need to make ourselves better at the same thing. In other words, it is much easier to tell somebody what they should do if they can see we have done the same thing ourselves. Our lives say much more than our mouths can ever articulate. How we talk to people, how we react to situations, in whom we put our faith, how promptly and genuinely we care about other people, and a host of other life matrices combine to give us away quicker than we are ready to defend ourselves. So, the work starts with us. We are better placed to suggest strategies to other people only if we have applied such strategies--or similar ones--to our lives, and we are currently prospering as a result of that. It is easier for people to believe what has previously worked for someone else. This explains why big organisations spend a lot of money inviting successful people to talk to their members of staff. People with success stories tend to...

The way we do our payment is changing dramatically. For example, people are beginning to use their smartphones for every kind of formal and informal transaction - to shop at stores, buy songs and movies online, and even do their banking. At the heart of these changes in how we do our transactions are lots of companies competing and collaborating to facilitate transactions. Although a great percentage of people use digital forms of payment, very few fully understand that it is an extremely complex industry. Payments is transferring information from one party to another, and nearly every stakeholder in the industry benefits when that process runs on digital rails. This is the era that we are in. Do you see any business opportunity? If everything is moving towards online, there must be something you can do (service or business) to be part of this moving train. Think.

Do you know why many would be successful business owners (entrepreneurs) get stuck while making strategic plans and choices? It is because they considered Where to Play  without reference to How to Win. I’ve heard variants of this over and over. Although I have always emphasized that these five choices have to link together and reinforce each other, hence the arrows flowing back and forth between the boxes, it has become clear to me that I haven’t done a good enough job of making this point, especially as it relates to the choices of Where to Play and How to Win. Many people ask why Capabilities and Management Systems are part of strategy when they are really elements of execution. That is yet another manifestation of the widespread, artificial, and unhelpful attempt to distinguish between choices that are “strategic” and ones that are “executional” or “tactical.” Remember that, regardless of what name you give them, these choices are a critical part of the integrated set ...

Have you ever tried to wish things away or pretend a particular problem will go away if you just ignore it? I have; a considerable number of times. But do they go away? Most times, they don't. Let's take this scenario for an example: you visit a doctor for your regular check-up and the learned man advises you to watch your diet because you are becoming obese; or, your bank account radar tells you that you are on the fast lane to bankruptcy - if you continue in your loud lifestyle. Then what do you do? Relax and wish it away? I've heard many advice that sometimes, all you need to do is to give " that challenge"  some time - allow it slide - and things would get sort out (by itself). Most times, we declare, It will pass, give it time. But does every problem require this passive approach? No. Going back to the sited examples above, if you don't heed your doctor's advice by actively  watching your diet, you will end up obese and sick. And of course, ...

The best leaders are able to execute the core of their business while remaining open to trends in the market and adapting to meet them. Being strategic in this way requires that you balance two traits. The first is consistency: Work hard and show up on time. Set goals for yourself and your employees, and then achieve them.  You also need the second trait, agility: Be intellectually curious, ready to learn from others, communicative, and collaborative. But just as consistency can turn into rigidity, agility can become a lack of focus when it isn’t tempered. So aim for a balance. Have high-quality standards, but also be open to change and understand when old ways of working no longer serve you or your company. From: Harvard Business Review

"The lack of a silver spoon will set you on a certain path, but you needn't stay on it. If you are prepared to adapt and learn, you can transform." - Kingsmen: The Secret Service Let no one deceive you; everything they say does not matter, matters. But you have to choose the effect of this ' matter'  on your life - whether it be negative or positive. Motivational speakers always tell you that your background does not matter and also not a determinant to your future. I disagree. The wealth and affluence of a man may not guarantee the success of his son, but it does give the son a head start. Sometimes, the head start is all that makes the difference. Where you come from does matter. The information and environment you are exposed to matter. But  the result of a determinant is not fixed. Just like everything else, it's effect can be changed. What if you don't have this head start? Well, lots of people don't and it may or may not mar your futu...