James C. Price :: Refresh Leadership | Fresh Ideas for Today's Business Leaders

Author Archive

Pushing through Adversity

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Friday, May 24th, 2013

Life is full of positive and negative events all affecting who we become and how we interact with others. Adversity is an element of life everyone faces. What differentiates proactive leaders and reactive imitators is a muscle that‘s flexed when destructive events occur: perseverance. This is the age-old act of pursuing accomplishments and achievement with resiliency and determination through trials and tribulation. It is to be steadfast.

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie
Read More→

Categories : Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation, Quotes

Comments (0)

Is Busy Always Best?

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Friday, May 10th, 2013

We live in a fast-paced world. Our lives are constantly changing by the urgency of schedules and commitments. Work and life variables are pulling us in every which direction. But it isn’t that these obligations are making us too busy, it’s that we are unnecessarily making ourselves busy. Consider the saying “running around like a chicken with its head cut off.” The bird, spastically moving around without thought or direct purpose, is a picture of many people in modern society. We feel busy but we aren’t being purposeful with our goals.

“Never mistake motion for action.” – Ernest Hemingway

By misunderstanding what action is and replacing it with meaningless motion, you end up working more hours to accomplish the same amount of work, which hinders productivity. If our society doesn’t change tracks, we’ll soon be staying busy to create an illusion of being productive. Instead, be deliberate with your time and energy. The best way to convert meaningless motion into deliberate action is to plan out initial steps. When thoughts are organized and goals are set, productivity becomes much more of a reality.

What are some ways you’ve converted motion into action? Let us know in the comments section below. Read More→

Categories : Goals, Leadership, Quotes, Tips

Comments (0)

4 Ways to Get Back to 40 Hours

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

Technology has changed how work gets accomplished. With tablets, smartphones, and unlimited software apps, it is easier than ever to get briefed on projects and organize deadlines. These productivity tools were designed to help us be the best we can be in our respective professions. But, it turns out that today’s workers are still feeling overworked and burnt out.

According to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), one in three workers suffer from chronic stress, with high workloads being a major factor. The APA also found that 39% of people work more than 40 hours a week. With incoming emails and calls, employees end up working outside of the office, which can actually lower productivity and quality of work. As a business leader, you can’t afford to be less productive – and you definitely can’t afford to have a burnt-out workforce.

So how do we get back to normal work hours and take back precious revitalization time with friends and family? Here are four ways to get a good start. Read More→

Categories : Leadership, Management, Productivity, Workplace

Comments (0)

5 Things to Do This Month: May 2013

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (1)

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

We’ve survived April showers and are ready to bring in May flowers and all the sunshine that comes with them. So as the weather warms up and we get closer to summer, consider these five things to do this month!

Plan Ahead to Stay Ahead

School will soon let out for the summer, and families will start to plan vacations. From short, three-day weekend trips to two-week beach voyages to the Yucatan, your office will experience a flux in your workforce. It’s best to plan ahead to ensure productivity doesn’t dwindle while people are on vacation. Make sure you create a schedule for employees who will be out and let other team members know about your plans so they can schedule their projects accordingly. You may also want to consider using staffing services, like Express Employment Professionals, to fill any short-term employment gaps you experience this summer. Read More→

Categories : 5 Things to Do This Month, Leadership, Management

Comments (1)

A Thought from Yogi Berra

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Friday, April 26th, 2013

Yogi Berra is one of the most colorful characters of the 20^th century. Some of his one liners have been repeated for comedic relief, while others have been used for their simplistic philosophy on life. His most notable expression – “It ain’t over till it’s over” – has inspired others though its obvious commentary on what we all struggle with from time to time. But, let’s take a moment and try to make a stretch with one of his more humorous ones.

“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.” Read More→

Categories : Leadership, Management, Poor Leadership and Communication, Quotes

Comments (0)

More Quick Teamwork Games to Build Engagement

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

After a great response to our post Six Quick Teamwork Games to Engage Employees at Work, we put together four more teamwork activities for you and your employees. Interacting with your team is crucial in creating a strong culture of communication and strengthening engagement and retention through employee development. Consider trying some of these games to help build unity, strengthen morale, and decrease stress in your office.

Office Celebrity

The game Celebrity is great for parties, but this play off of this classic is bound to break any barriers between coworkers and lead to knowing one another better. When workers know more about each other, they tend to work better together!

Break your office into two teams.
Write everyone’s name on separate pieces of paper and place them in a bowl.
Round One: The first team has one member get up and pull a name from the bowl. He or she tries to get their team to guess which worker it is by giving characteristics of that person. After the team guesses it, another name is chosen and so on until a minute has passed. After one minute, the second team picks one member to try and get their team to guess as many names as possible during a minute. This goes on, switching teams and rotating players until all of the names have been guessed. Replace all names back into the bowl. Keep a tally of how many names each team correctly guessed.
Round Two: Same as round one, but each moderator can only use ONE word to describe each name drawn.
Round Three: Same as the previous rounds, but each moderator can’t use words to describe drawn names, but instead must act them out. The team with the most correct names tallied after three rounds wins! Read More→

Categories : Leadership, Motivation, Poor Leadership and Communication, Productivity, Teamwork

Comments (0)

Inspirational Leadership

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

Earlier this year, we went through a three part series on the Lost Art of Mentoring. We learned about its importance, how to implement it, and what we get out of it. One aspect of mentoring is inspiring others. As leaders, we understand we are only as good as our team members. So, inspiring those around us to be the best they can be is intrinsically tied to our overall effectiveness as a leader. But, inspiring others is hard enough to explain let alone actually implementing it.

In order to learn how to be an inspiring leader, we must first delve into what inspiration is – and what it’s not. Defined, it’s the manner of being influenced by someone or something to the point of action, which can be anything from changing, being more proactive, or being a better person. The point is that it isn’t just influencing someone and then continuing in the same course. There needs to be a point of action. Inspiration is not telling someone to do something or using any other means for someone to change. True inspiration comes from the leader changing, the employee seeing the change, and then being influenced to do the same. Read More→

Categories : Innovation, Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation

Comments (0)

The Zebra Effect: Do You Misclassify Your Problems?

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Friday, April 12th, 2013

In every aspect of life, we are faced with problems. Whether we are the cause of the problem or just confronted with it, we have to resolve them in one fashion or another. The first step in outlining how to attack an issue is to define the problem. And, this is where the majority of mistakes can be drawn back to – initial misclassification. There is an old saying that is just as relevant today as it was in the late 1940s when former University of Maryland professor Dr. Theodore Woodward coined the phrase.

“When you hear hoof beats behind you, don’t expect to see a zebra.”

This idiom is referring to the idea of searching for outlandish explanations for common occurrences. Correlating to Sutton’s Law used in medical practices today, one should always consider the obvious when diagnosing a problem. Not every problem you experience is necessarily common, but first examine all characteristics of it as if it were. If it still doesn’t fit into the mold of other issues your business has faced, then consider more out-of-the-box explanations. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, chances are it isn’t a goose. Simplify your problems to get down to the essence of what you’re trying to define and then proceed based on its classification.

What are some ways you’ve seen the zebra effect within leadership? Let us know in the comments section below! Read More→

Categories : Inspiration, Motivation

Comments (0)

Are You a Leader or a Boss?

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (1)

Friday, March 15th, 2013

For every leader there are an equal amount of leadership styles. Everyone has a specific way of leading a team or organization and is comfortable with that leadership method. But when it comes down to it, all styles fall into two categories: leading and driving. Consider what the 26^th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, had to say about the two variants.

“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.”

Teddy Roosevelt is known for his robust personality and strong will. As a leader, he not only had to sell the vision, but also himself. Building the support of others and the trust that he would be on the front lines with them, Roosevelt gained the respect of his subordinates. One of the most famous examples of this is the legacy of the Rough Riders who saw action in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

Was the 26^th President a leader or a boss? The answer comes through a paradox. He was both. As a team supervisor in your organization, you need to zero in on becoming a leader out of being a boss. There needs to be delegation and drive, but to have a fully engaged workforce, a boss must lead the team through example and employee development. Inspire your team to be the best they can with the tools they have and help them see the impact they make every day.

A boss has a staff of yes-men. A leader has a team of innovators. What differences do you see? Let us know in the comments section below! Read More→

Categories : Innovation, Motivation, Poor Leadership and Communication

Comments (1)

Engaged Employees Know Their Hard Work Is Appreciated

Posted by: James C. Price | Comments (0)

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

We all want to feel appreciated. It’s an innate desire to know that what we do affects others in a positive way. As leaders, we have the ability to impart mood-altering, encouraging words to our own team members. Appreciation can be the difference in motivating a team to new heights and creating a revolving door of turnover at your organization.

Although most people understand its importance, appreciation through words or actions is often hard to come by in an office setting. According to a survey by the John Templeton Foundation of West Conshohocken, Pa., a nonprofit research organization, 10% of workers express gratitude to a colleague daily, while only 7% show appreciation to bosses. There is a disconnect between the amount of times appreciation is shown with the knowledge of its impact. According to Society for Human Resource Management, about half of human-resource managers say showing appreciation to employees helps reduce turnover and increase profit. Productivity and engagement is obviously directly connected to how employees understand their impact and influence in the overall company picture.

So to ensure high moral and better employee participation, consider these quick tips to show appreciation to your workforce! Read More→