August, 2009

Eric Jacobson

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Send A Thank You Note

Eric Jacobson

Nearly all employees want to do both a good job and please their supervisor. When they succeed, send them a thank you for a job well done. A short note (handwritten is particularly good) thanking them for a good job is extremely powerful. Particularly for new employees on your team. Or, for employees new to the workforce and early in their careers. Include in your note a sentence regarding what they did especially well and how their specific action made a positive impact.

Project 66
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Teach Something New

Eric Jacobson

Take the opportunity today to teach an employee something new. Nearly everyone likes to learn and is capable of tackling a new challenge. Teach your employee something that expands his (oer her) current job description. Teach something that will help him to get promoted within your organization at a later date. Teach him a skill that uses new technology.

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Don't Take All The Credit

Eric Jacobson

Insecure managers hog the credit for a job well done. Or, they hide the credit and don't give credit where credit is due. These managers are afraid to let their employees be in the limelight. Secure and successful managers talk up their employees, highlighting the good performance they've done, and are eager to give credit where credit is due. They promote their staff to their supervisor and to others within their organization.

Skills 50
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Learn Legal Terms Quickly

Eric Jacobson

As a manager, you likely review vendor agreements, sales contracts and other documents with legal terms you may not know so well. Perhaps you've run across terms, such as: Governing Law Counterparts Material Breach Representations Indemnifications Material Default Fiduciary Letter of Intent Penalty Clause Arbitration Copyright You can find the definitions and explanations for all these and thousands of other legal terms in the pocket-sized Barron's Law Dictionary by Steven H.

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Do This Exercise With Your Team/Department

Eric Jacobson

One of my most talented former direct reports uses with her team the book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" and the exercise that accompanies that book. She recently got me hooked on the book/exercise program. The program helps you identify your five most important strengths in ways I've never seen before. Among the 34 strength themes covered in the book, I discovered my strengths to be: Maximizer Consistency Empathy Responsibility Achiever Equally, important to knowing one's own strengths is under

Team 50
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Get A Second Read On Your Important Documents

Eric Jacobson

When writing important memos, policies, instructions and/or global communications, ask a co-worker or fellow manager to read your document before you distribute it. Getting that second opinion/read can be very helpful. Often, the other person will spot misspellings. Sometimes, she (or he) can help you tweak the tone to better fit your document's audience.

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Be Visible

Eric Jacobson

If you are a manager in a small business or not so large department, it's probably easy for you to be visible to your employees and co-workers. If you manage a large business, department or organization , you'll want to make a conscious effort to be visible. Don't spend your days behind closed doors or constantly in meetings. Walk around. Make conversation with your team members.

Report 50