It’s lonely at the top. When you’re the leader, you seem to be carrying the weight of the world and the future of your whole business on your shoulders. Most leaders spend their days barely surviving emotionally, but nobody talks about it. In fact, I bet if your employees and colleagues knew how you feel most of the time, they would be shocked. Starting and growing a company comes with…
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When you’re the owner of a small or medium-sized business, you’re often also the accountant, HR person, marketing director and office manager! I’ve worked with so many business owners who struggle with the same problem: there’s not enough of them to go around and you are having to do things that you really have no business messing with! It’s admirable that you roll up your sleeves and get into the…
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Adjusting to a remote workplace is challenging for leaders and employees alike. While close to 25% of the American labor force works from home at least part of the time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we’ve never been so separated from each other before. From productivity concerns to family demands, there is no shortage of things to worry about during this time. Even if you love working…
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From hospitality to education, the coronavirus has impacted every industry. Also known as COVID-19, the pandemic has led to more than 100,000 deaths worldwide, and we’re self-isolating for an indefinite period of time to prevent the spread of infection as much as possible. I don’t doubt that COVID-19 has affected your business, and it will continue to do so for at least the near future. It can feel scary not…
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Hi! My name is Katherine Hartvickson of Quantum Ascendance, an HR Consulting & Leadership Development company. We help you develop your People and create sustainable Processes so that you enjoy a Profitable and Winning Culture. This is the third tip in my video series on business communication. (You’ll find the other two videos in the resources section below.) When employees don’t feel heard, it can lead to poor productivity, lack…
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Hi! My name is Katherine Hartvickson of Quantum Ascendance, an HR Consulting & Leadership Development company. We help you develop your People and create sustainable Processes so that you enjoy a Profitable and Winning Culture. This is the second tip in my video series on business communication. If you missed the first tip, watch it here. Effective listening is essential to clear communication and management success. Choosing the right words,…
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As a professional HR consultant, I find that bringing up succession planning is a bit like talking about wills—people get uncomfortable, change the subject and put it off rather than facing the facts. However, if you want to have a sustainable business that succeeds after a key player or players are gone, you NEED to have a strong bench in the wings so that you can protect what you’ve built.…
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Almost every leader or manager I’ve worked with has a story about an employee (or more than one) who is hard to work with for some reason (or reasons). These challenging people can totally drain the emotional energy of your entire workforce if you don’t address the issue. Of course, as a manager you want to avoid hiring them in the first place, but if they’re on your team, you’re…
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2019 has just begun, and many of you made New Year’s resolutions to grow your business, get that promotion, get fit, eat healthy, travel more and so on. I bet you did that last year too. And the year before that. How did it work out for you? Did you find yourself losing interest as other things vied for your time, attention and money? Are you ready to give yourself…
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It could be a lawsuit or a slump or just plain fatigue, but most businesses will at some point hit a wall and need to recover. The biggest loss from a crisis is often company morale. If you see your employees losing their enthusiasm, it’s time to be a leader and pave the way back to the environment you enjoyed before the issues arose. If you’re a small business owner…
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