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Are you a team player?
Harry J. Friedman Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIt's a buzzword in corporate America: the exalted team player. We all want them. We ask for them in "help wanted" ads. We describe ourselves as one of them during job interviews. But what exactly is a team player? And is success achieved through teamwork?
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Mission or vision — Which drives your strategy?
Michael J. Berens Association ManagementIdeally, an association's mission and vision should be in alignment. Often in reality they are not. Over time as leadership changes hands and founding members become less involved, an association may experience mission drift or vision creep, and the two begin to diverge.
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Why leaders need to shut up and listen
C. Fredrick Crum Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementTypically, we choose our leaders for their skill at conveying messages clearly and powerfully. But, in my experience, it's their ability to listen that distinguishes great leaders from the rest. We often attribute courage and strength to the speaker, but what about the listener?
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Don’t learn email etiquette the hard way
Suzanne Mason CommunicationsRecently, a marketing professional came under fire when her nasty email response via LinkedIn to a job-seeker went viral. And we can all learn an important lesson about email etiquette from this case.
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How to kill strategic planning before starting
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementVolunteers invest a lot of time and money to attend the strategic planning retreat. The result should be a document to guide the board, committees and staff for several years. Some groups sabotage the planning process with shortcuts and frugality.
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How to stand out in your next meeting
Deborah Ike Religious CommunityI've been thinking a lot about communication lately. Communication isn't just what we say. It’s how we say something — our tone of voice and our nonverbal queues, including facial expressions and body language. Sometimes our nonverbal cues can betray our intended message.
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What Twitter groups can teach you about your organization
Michael J. Berens Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIf someone asked how your company is organized, what would you say? Chances are you would pull out your company's org chart and describe its various divisions and departments. But org charts only depict lines of formal authority.
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Setting an agenda streamlines the meeting process
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementIf there is a reason to meet, there should be a meeting agenda. Most agendas are built on precedent: "We've always done it that way." Seldom do incoming officers consider the format of an agenda to craft improvements, and agenda development is often delegated to staff.
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Suppliers — Your best untapped resource
Michael J. Berens Association ManagementOne of the biggest challenges any manager has is not knowing what you don't know. It's demanding enough to keep up with all the things you need to address without contemplating what other forces may be at work "out there" that could affect your members or your association.
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How to best leverage advisors for your business: Part I
David B. Mandell, JD, MBA Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementMost people realize that success creates complexity. What top practice owners and managers have realized is that the management of complexity and leverage is not the job of a traffic cop. As a practice grows, the number of complicated, technical risks that the practice faces also grows exponentially.
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