Mar 18 2019

Business Wisdom Learned From Bomb Squad Experts And Their Commanders

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
Albert Einstein

Extremely well trained. Reliably successful in highly dangerous environments. Superior situational awareness. Disciplined mental toughness. Sharpened self-control. Tech savvy. Self-starting. Elevated initiative. Take command mindset. Excellence under pressure. Hyper attention to detail. Innovative. Masters of situational and resource improvisation. Process dedicated. Respect for rules. Unassuming. Nerves of steel. Inspiring leaders. Protectors of life.

Bomb squad teams and their Commanders; Superheroes in anyone’s book, except for the playbooks of enemies.

I wanted to learn from these real-life, champions.… Read the rest

Tags: business, capability, innovation, performance, readiness, training

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Nov 5 2018

How Well Are You Leveraging The Different Thinking Styles Of Your Teams

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

Whether we’re at work or at home, to varying degrees, those around us don’t value or see events, situations or issues the we do or in the ways we prefer they would.

Chris R. Stricklin, writes in his most recent published Forbes piece, “Seven Lessons On Building Elite Teams For Disruptive Innovation,” that the first lesson in building elite teams is to “demand diversity of thought.”

Chris knows a thing or two about leading elite teams. As a former United States Air Force Colonel and Thunderbird Pilot his leadership responsibilities included leading a force of 7000 highly trained military members.… Read the rest

Tags: Jay, leader, levin, teams, Thinking

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Aug 7 2018

Business Management Lessons from a San Francisco Bus Driver

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“Finding a good bus driver can be as important as finding a good musician.”
Reba McEntire

If you’ve ever been to Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, California, you know the charm of Fillmore Street. This boutique chic, street is quintessentially SF trendy and has been for decades. If you know the street, you know Blue Bottle Coffee on the corner of Fillmore and Jackson. The place is the intersection of chic and coffee.

It was there, while seated outside, that I received a Master-level lesson in business management. My instructor was a San Francisco bus driver. His bus was on Jackson street about to make a right turn onto Fillmore.… Read the rest

Tags: Drive, Jay Levin, Leadership, lessons, management

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Aug 28 2017

DeCluttering – Your Way To Brilliance

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“Keeping baggage from the past will leave no room for happiness in the future.”
Wayne L. Misner

Here’s a tip to add brilliance, shine and value contribution to your work and your personal brand. Try it.

I defy you to tell me it doesn’t get you noticed and known as an original workplace thinker when you work it right and apply it to a business direction, project and strategy piece.

Bring value by uncovering what is…
by DeCluttering what isn’t.

While others focus on value adding, you focus on subtracting what isn’t value rich. Don’t think what can be added. Or what’s missing.… Read the rest

Tags: branding, brilliance, declutter, levin, value, waste

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Mar 27 2017

Talent Stars – Don’t Burn Your Shine!

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

Talent can’t be taught, but it can be awakened!
Wallace Stegner

Talent star. Talent manager. Talent agent. Talent show. Talent source. Today as valued contributors, we must be each. Or your show goes. Goes down the hall. Goes off the floor. To another unit. Or another agency? Or supplier? Or the show goes to someone other than you.

Whatever you think talent is or isn’t – it is measured. If you don’t know how your talent contribution is being measured, you could be in trouble. Big trouble. And performance measurements these days are 360. Definitely not just from above. Not any longer.… Read the rest

Tags: burn, feedback, focus, performance, star, Talent

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Sep 14 2016

End Meeting Nightmares: Manage Results, Not Activity

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.”
Unknown

Want to review housekeeping details weekly? Open a maid services franchise.

Admit what you already know: Your meetings are ineffective. Admit what you know. Your people know your/their meetings are ineffective. Admit what you know. Your people check out the minute they walk into their meetings. Admit what you’re afraid to. Your people see you you as an ineffective leader.

Change it all. In one fell swoop. End meeting nightmares. Manage results. Not activity.

Here’s a few ways you can transform anemic meetings into vitally dynamically sessions;
1.… Read the rest

Tags: activity, culture, meetings, nightmare, results, time management

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Aug 3 2016

The Flip Side of Fear: What Your Fear Says About You

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“Fear can be seen as happening for us, not just to us. Leverage it!”
Jay Steven Levin

Fear is increasing. Worldwide. It knows no psychographic, demographic or geographic limitation.

Let’s look fear in the eye. See it for what it is, what it can tell you about you and how you can relate to it better to improve your quality of life.

Fear is an emotional response. A sensual reaction to what and how we perceive the world around us and our internal world inside us.

The more we live in and through our senses, the greater our emotional reactions become.… Read the rest

Tags: action, courage, fear, Jay, jslevin, levin, opportunity, overcoming, rationalizing

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Jul 8 2016

What Does Your Accountability Compass Say – About You & Your Leadership?

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.”
Marcus Aurelius

As individuals and figures of authority we know the value of following a moral compass. But what about an accountability compass?

Following one serves the same purpose as a regular compass. It helps us find our way and prevents us from getting lost.

An accountability compass has four directions. Up. Back. With. Aside. Its purpose is to help us understand at any given time which we’re headed in our accountability, up and into it or back and away from it!… Read the rest

Tags: accountability, compass, direction, guidance, Integrity, Jay Levin, Leadership

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Jun 1 2016

How Do You Know, That What Think You Know – Is True?

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer,
to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
Abraham H. Maslow

Who we are rises above what we say. We act out our inner voices. We all do.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, said, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”

What we say to ourselves defines us.
We are the sum total of our self-talk.

Our inner conversations either add to who we are or subtract us from being who we can be. Nothing startlingly new here, I admit. But we overlook it everyday.… Read the rest

Tags: Assumptions, feedback, Jay, Know, levin, mirror, Question, Validation

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May 2 2016

What’s Your Leadership Return On Equity?

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

equity - generalleadership

“Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.”
D. H. Lawrence

ROE or Return on Equity can be described as the sum of net income returned as an expressed percentage of shareholder equity. ROE measures company profitability by showing how much yield a business produces from and against shareholder investment.

The word equity is one of those words that have evolved over time from a general meaning; of what is just and equal – to a specific meaning of a monetary value of a property such as a home or company after amounts owned such as mortgages, claims or liens have been applied.… Read the rest

Tags: Equity, Leadership, levin, ROE

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Apr 22 2015

Isn’t It Time To Rethink Time?

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“The trouble is…
you think you have time!”
Unknown

When time becomes the transactional measure of merit you’d think the more we have of it the more valuable we become – to others and ourselves. Not!

Every day we hear self-important boasts declaring how busy we are, how little time we have, the degree of demand we are under, and how much others need us. The lens of time in these cases has become refracted. Our value propositions have become distorted. The less time we have and the more we are doing, the more important we promote ourselves to be. We brag about our lack of time and wear our weariness pinned to our chests like so many shiny medals of honor decreeing the rank of our productivity.… Read the rest

Tags: behavior, example, levin, management, organization, performance, time, Viewpoints

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Feb 18 2015

How You Value “Value” Determines Your Leadership Value

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“Strive not to be a success,
but rather to be of value!”
Albert Einstein

Our value as a leader, and how others perceive our value, has much to do with how we value value and how those around us do the same .

Value is a measure of relative worth, merit, or importance. Anything can have value to the degree that it has worth, merit, or importance. The same is true for anything to which we can assign a value, whether it is an object, objective , event, or a person, relationship, situation, business deal, food, furniture or whatever. For example, a chair can have a different value for different purposes.… Read the rest

Tags: extrinsic, feedback, first impressions, intrinsic, levin, objective, relationships, systemic, value

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Jul 7 2014

Why Biased Leaders Are Deaf, Dumb and Blind Followers

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
Robertson Davies

Biases cloud thinking. Thinking affects judgment. Judgment affects decisions. Decisions affect outcomes.

We judge ourselves based on our outcomes. We judge others based on their outcomes. Our outcomes are in turn, judged by those around us.

Our biases shape perception. Perception shapes reality.

Reality is affected and shaped by biases – which are distortions of reality.

The realities that we must deal with are often created from distortions. This is analogous to our getting caught up in a revolving door on a winding day.

Once we get sucked into bias based thinking, acting and reacting we keep going round and round instead of advancing forward.… Read the rest

Tags: Advantage, Behavioral, bias, biased, Executive, followers, levin, Measurable, Organizational, Perceptual, performance

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Jun 4 2014

The Poison of Feeling Important

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

“You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.”
George Clooney

It starts innocuously enough. A kind word. A perfumed scent. A look. A thought.

Thrill follows. Temptation begins.

The effect courses through our blood stream. Races like a wildfire across our nervous system. Heart pumps hard. Breathing is heavy. Mind moves miles ahead. Imagination unleashed.

Whatever the temptation is, be it physical, mental or emotional it’s poison starts unexpectedly and innocuously. And it acts like toxin acts on our system. It stimulates, accelerates, arouses, kindles, provokes, arises, hastens, quickens, rushes and then fatigues, tires, exhausts and in the end twists up inside and out and weakens us.… Read the rest

Tags: Advantage, Behavioral, curator, ego, Executive, importance, Important, levin, Measurable, mentor, modeling, Organizational, Perceptual, performance, Poison, self, Temptation

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May 7 2014

What Great Leaders Know That Good Leaders Don’t about Self-Regulation

Posted by Jay Steven Levin

The Silent Power Behind Emotional Intelligence

“The emotional brain responds to an event more quickly than the thinking brain.”
Daniel Goleman

If our skills, competencies and judgment get us our leadership roles – it’s our Emotional Quotient (EQ), or Emotional Intelligence, that keeps us there and propels us forward into greater leadership scope, work footprint, scale and reach.

If our EQ capacity empowers us to effectively leverage our emotions to bring about better business outcomes, then – our ability to exercise self-regulation powers our EQ capacity.

Consider the following: If EQ is to us, what an engine is to a car – then self-regulation is the drive train that powers how we operate. … Read the rest

Tags: anger, capacity, control, effective, emotional intelligence, emotions, empower, eq, focus, gratification, influence, lead, leverage, levin, performance, power, regulation, self, time

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