Tag: Competitive Edge

More than doing just one thing …

Paul Wagenaar

I began as a good manager but a poor leader. I benefited from good mentors and people who believed in my potential and through hard work, and many missteps, I have become a better manager and a good leader. In a small way, I hope this post repays their faith and helps you.

Success does not result from a single action, success is the cumulative result of hundreds of small intricate actions and decisions; but most importantly success comes from treating your people well.

Navigating Leadership Traps

Paul Wagenaar

Leadership has many rewards and many costs, in striving to achieve success we can develop habits that seem worthwhile and often cross boundaries that we aren’t aware of.

Consider this post, a brief guide to remembering “How you achieve success” is as important as the “Success you achieve.” Please feel free to comment and add your own suggestions.

Employer’s Expectations/Student’s Expectations

Paul Wagenaar

Recently I sold some property and when sought legal advice it was supplied by a lawyer who had been once a summer student I had worked with. Thinking about them, I thought about all of the other summer students I had been lucky enough to know. They inspired this post about things I wish I could tell future students as well as future employers.

I hope that you read this, apply the points, add to them, and share them. As employers we can make a tremendous difference for students. And, for students, consider the tips provided to help your employers as well.

We all struggle with decisions sometimes

Paul Wagenaar

Recognizing key opportunities, considering different doors to open or ignore, and making difficult choices are learned skills.

We have all struggled to learn the skills necessary to make better choices. This approach was shared with me, and it helps, see if these tools will help you or someone your know.

Things to consider …

Paul Wagenaar

Good organizations want to find good people and good people are seeking jobs with good organizations. In today’s “Tools Everyone Can Use,” there are tips for both sides to use that work that you can start using right now that will make a difference.

What to keep, what to lose.

Paul Wagenaar

Your resume is an advertisement. A very specific tool to show a prospective employer you should be invited for an interview.

It is not your biography of everything you have done in your life. Too many resumes fail for this reason, my own included.

Take a few minutes, see what you should unpack, repack, and create a resume that shows your skills, your experiences, and why you are the best person to be hired.

Subtleties of working with people … Take a short quiz.

Paul Wagenaar

I hope as an entrepreneur, manager, supervisor, or someone who aspires to take on any of those roles, you will ask yourself “Would you work for you?”

To be truly effective as a leader, you must consider the effects of your decisions, systems and processes, and their impacts on your people. My challenge today is to take a few minutes and consider the questions in this post. It is possible to be a manager but not a leader, considering this quiz may help you to become better at both.

GOING TO MARKET – Tips for Small and Medium-sized Organizations

Paul Wagenaar

The original purpose of my website was to offer free tips and advice to the people who run and work for small and medium-sized organizations. Admittedly I have diverged somewhat to include many of the community social issues that impact and also can be impacted by these same organizations. Working in the charitable sector also made me realize many other organizations could benefit from the “lessons learned” included in these tips.

Today’s post is about procurement and/or buying of products and services particularly for people who run and work in organizations where everyone wears multiple hats.

21 Questions/Lessons Learned

Paul Wagenaar

Small and medium-sized organizations, retailers, service companies, and even charitable organizations struggle even in good times. When inflation is high, the labour market is tight, and competitive pressures cause many sleepless nights it is an even greater struggle.

Success, the ability to adapt and overcome is achievable, a good place to start is to consider the lessons learned in “beware the rabbit hole.”