Karl Bimshas Consulting’s “Leadership in Unusual Times,” looks at how busy professionals are navigating the physical, mental, economic, and societal challenges in 2020 and beyond. Q: Who are you and what have you been doing lately? I'm … [Read more...]
Positively Combat the Challenges
I believe that during the next 18-24 months, it will be crucial to stay focused on four primary areas — physical, mental, economic, and societal health. We are in the early stages of a global pandemic, which, if handled poorly and let’s be … [Read more...]
All ‘Good’ Leaders Must Be Better
In my opinion, all good leaders must step up to disrupt and dismantle the entrenched complacency of lousy leadership. Yes, better leadership development and accountability are required to bolster the essential skills and effectiveness of established … [Read more...]
Joyless Leaders
I remember a time in college when I returned home to visit my mom. She told me about a troubling sight she had just seen: a school bus had stopped at a light beside her, and the faces of sullen and despondent teenagers filled every visible … [Read more...]
Complacency, Our Alluring Faux
We’ll get used to it, we always do. Two thousand extra daily deaths aren’t too bad to those unaffected. We’ve proven that we are okay with the spontaneous manslaughter of schoolchildren. We’re doing fine with heart disease and … [Read more...]
Solopreneur Productivity: Essential Tools for Maximizing Your Time
Guest Post by Dean Burgess When you’re self-employed, you can’t afford to waste time being disorganized. Every minute you’re not working is time that you’re not getting paid, which is why productivity is high-priority for solopreneurs. While … [Read more...]
Four Threats and Where to Put Your Focus
Q: As a leader, where do I put my focus right now? As a leader, I think over the next 18 to 24 months, realistically, in my opinion, there are four areas you should be putting your attention on because there are four threats that we're … [Read more...]
Routine and Serendipity
Edited Transcript How do I cope while being under quarantine? So how do you cope while being under quarantine? You know, it doesn't matter whether you think of it as house arrest or helping saving lives; it doesn't matter where you fall in the … [Read more...]
Leading in Unusual Time
Leadership Advisor, Writer, and Podcast Host, Karl Bimshas answers leadership questions during these unusual times. Q1: How do you help employees embrace new practices? Q2: How do you inspire creativity and problem-solving? Q3: How do you … [Read more...]
Courage Isn’t Possible Without Fear
Although our physical location is closed in support of social distancing efforts, Karl Bimshas Consulting remains open virtually. While we had planned to offer in-person group coaching later this month, we will instead migrate to online … [Read more...]
Lead Well
We are all facing a rapidly escalating health crisis, with responsible citizens sheltering in place to help blunt the COVID-19 virus and reduce the inevitable strain on our healthcare infrastructure. This necessary action helps save lives and buy … [Read more...]
Leader’s Guide to Change
Like it or not, well-planned or unplanned, your business is going to go through some rapid change. As a leader in your organization, you have the obligation and opportunity to be forthright and tell people what to expect. Knowing what the change is, … [Read more...]
How Do You Face Adversity
Watch how people react to a pandemic; it mimics how we treat climate change but at a faster speed. Sentiments like, "that's their problem, not ours," "It's a hoax," "That's what they want you to believe," begin to give way to well-meaning people … [Read more...]
Troll or Leader?
Before you post something online from behind the safety of your keyboard, ask yourself if your contribution is educating, entertaining, or otherwise enlightening people, or if you are acting like a troll. Of course, sharing your ideas and beliefs … [Read more...]
Q&A: What is the single most effective thing I can do to maximize productivity?
Q&A: How do I step into leadership?
Q&A: Is leadership a learned skill?
GO GET IT!
Your Guide to Finding Purpose, Setting Goals and Maintaining Success You can make your leadership life better with a clear purpose, great goals, a deadline, and discipline. INTRODUCTION - Your Best Year … [Read more...]
Q&A: How often should you have a meeting with an employee to go over performance?
Q&A: Why is improving leadership so difficult?
Q&A: What are the two most important leadership attributes?
The Day Kevin Turtle Had a Great Year
A Short Story to Transform Wishes into Work Kevin Turtle began the day as he had every other day for the last two years, by dreading to get up. Each morning he faced the same dilemma. How would he accomplish everything he felt he had to, knowing … [Read more...]
What’s Your Theme?
New Year’s Day is a fun time to declare your intentions because it seems like everyone else is, and there’s something to be said for riding the group momentum, but if you’re “not feeling it,” relax. Generally speaking, the ones who proclaim their … [Read more...]
Leadership Challenges
The world is facing leadership challenges on many fronts; this is nothing new. The stakes, however, seem higher. People are awakening to the idea of consequences for actions (or inactions.) It will take the best of ourselves, as it always does, to … [Read more...]
Pushing Back the Ocean: Tide Turning Leadership Lessons
Introduction: Tide Turning It's amazing to me the number of people I have come across who do not appear to put any thought or action into their lives. They float about, rudderless, just drifting with the tide and changing winds. They react, … [Read more...]
What Can You Do in 16 Months?
You see something wrong, and you find a small way to right it. You start alone. It is difficult, but you do not flinch, you stay on purpose. Some people join you; some fade away. You stay true to your vision, you study your convictions, share … [Read more...]
Motivational Gifts
With the holidays fast approaching, are you looking for the perfect motivational gift? Leadershirts Plus, the online shop that strives to challenge people to maximize their strengths, look at things differently, and provoke positive … [Read more...]
Popular Leadership Assessments
When was the last time you assessed your team? Yourself? Highly successful professionals are aware of the importance of taking regular assessments. Not only are leadership assessments favorable for a successful professional’s team, but for the … [Read more...]
5 Ways Good Leaders Can Become Better Leaders
GUEST POST BY MAIA FLETCHER Being a leader is a huge responsibility that requires a lot of dedication and drive. Great leadership can take your business to the next level and bring you more opportunities in life. So what does it take to be a … [Read more...]
Write Advice
"Write Advice" is ten years old. It's another short book full of inspirations, tips, and thoughts for leaders and artists. It's now available on Leadershirts Plus with a new cover. Please share it with your writer friends who are feeling "stuck" … [Read more...]
The Redesigned Disposable Journal
You know writing is a powerful communication tool. Did you also know it’s therapeutic? Introducing the redesigned Disposable Journal, Now available at www.disposablejournal.com Whether you call it therapeutic writing, journaling, expressive … [Read more...]
Leadershirts Plus
If you're a fan of my writing, podcast, or leadership guidance, the new store, Leadershirts Plus, is the place is for you to find fun gifts and tools for yourself and others. What's in a name? Leader shirts - … [Read more...]
Oscillate. Don’t Vacillate.
It's okay to oscillate in your life and with your leadership. In fact, I'd encourage you to do so. Regularly scan your surroundings and your interests, back and forth; taking note of changes in the landscape, people's beliefs, and your opinion. This … [Read more...]
Defense Against the Dark Arts of Lousy Leadership: Verbal Attacks
In a perfect world, adults have the maturity and the skills to handle conflict without name-calling, shaming, and other methods of cloaking their insecurity, and we wouldn't have to concern ourselves with their childish outbursts. Alas, we have not … [Read more...]
How are you Measuring Success?
Automation and improved efficiency are essential for any business. Smart business owners use tools to leverage and enhance the human components inside and outside of their enterprise. If your organization doesn’t have a plan to dig deeper and … [Read more...]
Change It Up
Are you in a rut, feeling stuck or aimless? Then you probably need to do the opposite of what you've been doing. Examples: In your head, plotting, and planning? Stop. Go do. Make mistakes and learn how to recover from … [Read more...]
Low Expectations
Never want to be disappointed? Have low expectations. You exert minimal effort and plod through life. You don't expect much; you don't get much. It's a cynical philosophy way too many people adopt because it's easier. It's also crappy advice lousy … [Read more...]
Leadership Strategy or Whim?
Do you have a leadership strategy for your business, or is it closer to whim? Answer True or False to the following. You have established short and long-term goals for your business.You know the leadership skills, behaviors, work environment … [Read more...]
Fill-in-the-blank Strong
Psst. It's not the video games, the Second Amendment, or mental health. Guns and the cottage industries that bloom with mass shootings are profitable. Door jams, bullet-proof backpacks, media ad-rates, anxiety meds, and firearm sales, among other … [Read more...]
Gameboard
Download this Leadership Development Gameboard and print it out to help you and your team to hone key leadership attributes. Pick the day of the week and roll a die, or randomly select a square and reflect on how you demonstrate that behavior. … [Read more...]
10 Questions to Help Busy Professionals Act on Purpose
I hope this quick guide helps if you're feeling a little wonky about your purpose. To download the free self-assessment, click the button. … [Read more...]
Your Inspiration Likes Attention
When did you last feel inspired? Did you do anything with that feeling? Inspiration often feels elusive, particularly to those who pursue creative fields. People call it their muse and often go off in search of it like it were a mythical creature. … [Read more...]
Snakebite and Venom; A Short Story for Busy Professionals
Two friends walked along a path when they happened across a rattlesnake warming itself in the sun. One of the men, pompous and careless, severed the snake with an ax, but not before it bit the foolish man on the wrist. The man wailed and flailed his … [Read more...]
Halftime Pep Talk for Busy Professionals
You are halfway through the year. How are you doing on your goals? Riding high, or don't want to think about it until you're back from vacation? Halftime is a great time to review the past 90-180 days of your life to see what's been going … [Read more...]
How Women Can Give Their Careers a Much-Needed Boost
GUEST POST BY GLORIA MARTINEZ Are you looking for ways to improve your job prospects, but aren’t sure where to start? If your career needs refreshing, there are plenty of avenues to explore. You have to define your goals and explore ways to … [Read more...]
30 Things a Reasonably Decent Manager Can Do
1. Either find the time to have meaningful and regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings with members of your team, or reconsider how you use the word “manager.” If you cannot find the time to sit down with your team individually and learn more … [Read more...]
Build a User’s Guide
You might think working with you is a dream. You’re in your head all day, so, you know your intentions and beliefs better than anyone else, and I am sure they all sound reasonable. The problem is; no one else is in there with you. Even your closest … [Read more...]
What’s Your Life About?
If your life were like a book or a movie and someone asked, “What’s it about?” What would you reply? If you don't know, don't get bent out of shape by people who don't "get" you. If you don't know your purpose, others won't either. Purpose isn't … [Read more...]
Burnt Out? Shape Up!
This five-part shape up plan is for people who are feeling a little burnt out in their current role. If you still have some fuel in the tank and to want to be helpful to your organization you’ve got to place yourself where you can make the … [Read more...]
Your Talent is a Terrible Thing to Waste
A case for your personal and professional development Would you believe the average person spends more time and money on activities that contribute to their personal detriment than to their personal development? They unwittingly develop habits … [Read more...]
Take Action
Decide. Then take action.When you take action you take away the excuses. An overabundance of thinking tends to mean a scarcity of action. Think, yes. Then make a decision. Commit to that decision. Take action. No more excuses. If the action … [Read more...]
Feel Better Fast
Feeling blah and want to feel better fast? Take a quick assessment of these regular positive activities. Keep track in your head or on your fingers, or download the Feel Better Fast worksheet from the Karl Bimshas Consulting website. To make it … [Read more...]
Dismantle Dismay
Let’s face it. Sometimes things stink. They just do. If you let the little things in life start to bring you down, you’ll have no resistance to the big things. And now you have dismay. If you’re feeling blah, or just kinda bummed, you’ve got to … [Read more...]
Two ways you can improve your leadership…
Way One - Improve your self-awareness by learning which motivators most influence you. Take the Motivators Online Assessment and receive your personal Motivators Report for only $39 Way Two - Leadership can be lonely and you frequently feel like … [Read more...]
Do All Your Customers Love You? Nope.
I recall a research study based on reciprocity, that discovered we have far few friends than we think we do. About half as many, if you define a friend as the kind of person who foregoes their Saturday plans to help you move, in the rain, because … [Read more...]
The Triple C
Here’s a quick tool to help you think about ways to improve your performance in any area of your life. Carve out no more than 15 minutes to sneak away for a cup of coffee and reflect on your Triple C. It will give you a rough plan of … [Read more...]
Are you Facing a Problem or a Challenge?
When I was a new operations manager I would regularly meet with my sales counterparts to review activity at our shared accounts. At the time, the organization valued positive language, sometimes to the extreme. One day, a crusty account executive … [Read more...]
You Yell, You Lose
If you're an adult entrusted with the privilege and responsibility of authority, and you regularly berate or yell at your employees, you lose. You might trick yourself into thinking it will work in the short term, but you've paid a heavy price. … [Read more...]
Lead by Example
To hear more of my interview with Teri Wilder, click the button below. … [Read more...]
Leadership Spotlight: Teri Wilder
For Leadership Spotlight, Leadership Advisor Karl Bimshas, speaks with a diverse array of busy professionals in various stages of their career and along different paths of their leadership journey. Here’s a summary of his conversation with Teri … [Read more...]
Complain Complain Complain
What could you accomplish if instead of complaining you either took action or kept your mouth shut? Complaining is easy. Everyone complains, either out loud or to themselves; and there is an infinite number of things in our world about which to … [Read more...]
Manage Better Lead Well Series
What’s Your Temperature?
Are you running hot or cold today? Let's find out. Give yourself 0-10 points for each behavior. -Did you act with kindness?-Do you feel grateful?-Do you have curiosity? -Did you show enthusiasm?-Have you demonstrated determination?-Do you possess … [Read more...]
Accountability Partner Methods
You might not be aspiring for the highest office in the land, but an accountability partner can certainly help you reach your important career, business, or personal growth goals. From simple weekly check-ins to intensive goal-setting, Karl Bimshas … [Read more...]
Six Weeks In
You run your own business. You’ve made big plans for the year. Six weeks in and your momentum is waning. Have you nodded “yes” two and a half or more times? Keep reading. What do you think is holding you back? Confusion? Anxiety? … [Read more...]
Foggy Forest
Imagine being lost and disoriented in the middle of a foggy forest in the dead of night. You're unable to figure out which direction to step and return towards the safety of home -- the place where you find comfort and nourishment. You take a … [Read more...]
Better Sales Management
When you run your own business, or are leading a sales team, not only do you need to meet your revenue goals, you have to predict the future, manage egos (including your own) and stay upbeat. It’s too easy to get sidetracked. When you invest a few … [Read more...]
Are you Running a Learning Organization?
No matter the size of your organization, if you want to become more efficient, increase productivity, increase profit, and grow client satisfaction, there is no better way than building a workplace environment geared toward continuous … [Read more...]
Compliments
What's the best compliment you've ever received? It felt nice, right? How many have you given lately? Give ten or more genuine compliments today. You can find 29 other thought starters and positive actions in the book, "Perspectives: A 30-day … [Read more...]
Leading Rebels
Good leaders don't tell you to "sit down," "stay in your lane," or “wait your turn.” People with a threatened agenda do that. Good leaders listen to the beat you dance to and incorporate it into their vision. They recruit you and make you … [Read more...]
What if You Were Curious Instead of Offended?
Being offended doesn't accomplish much. The arguments between those experiencing insensitivity versus the hypersensitivity of others on any given issue have become mundane, and it stagnates the evolution of ideas, thoughts, and … [Read more...]
Manage Better
Leadership Fitness Checklist
By now, the majority of those who joined a gym to support their New Year resolution are having second thoughts. They’re not committed to their commitment. For the majority, the pain it takes to achieve their goal is not worth the effort. Of course, … [Read more...]
Your Leadership Path
Do you have a leadership path in mind for yourself or your organization this year? If you don't, how are you going to get where you want to go? By wishing really, really hard? By coasting, or drifting toward success? Probably not. … [Read more...]
How to Apologize: A Periodic Reminder
Because so few get it right, here is a periodic reminder on how to properly apologize. No, saying "sorry" isn't enough, and being inconvenienced by another's lack of belief in your remorse isn't their problem, it's yours. Also, don't demand an … [Read more...]
Leadership Assessments
Assessments serve as a quick way to get a sense of self and perspective. They provide a snapshot of current conditions and form a framework individuals, teams, and organizations can use to communicate concepts efficiently. Karl Bimshas Consulting … [Read more...]
Diversity
Diversity of thought, life experiences, and belief systems is what makes organizations stronger. The fittest ideas can flourish, and greater numbers of people benefit. If the room you're in looks like you, you're not learning enough. You'll feel … [Read more...]
Twenty Nineteen
Thanks for a great 2018! Here's to a Happy 2019! Download "Make Space" for Free … [Read more...]
Three Words
Choose three words. With three words you can set a theme for your year without all the P-measures, R-measures, KPI’s, parental or religious guilt, and anything else that has made planning your year feel like a burden, instead of the optimistic fun it … [Read more...]
Pull Yourself Together
This time of year it's easy to feel a little crappy because you didn't achieve your important goals...again. You can break that cycle with Karl Bimshas Consulting's KICKSTART 2019 KIT, now available. The KICKSTART 2019 KIT Includes: 90 Day … [Read more...]
Dyslexia, Dysthymia, and Determination
I am not a fan of "woe is me" authors who overshare all the problems in their life. I am partial to a stoic approach. We all have our battles, many of them private, and that is a personal choice. Not every malady has to be posted and commented upon. … [Read more...]
Can You Do Better with Account Management?
I’ve been struck by how few micro, small, and mid-size businesses, regardless of their level of success, have any kind of Account Management process for their important clients. Any size business with a clean Account Management process, can … [Read more...]
Fun Tool for Your Development
The Leadership Development Box is a Fun Tool! Karl Bimshas Consulting’s Leadership Development Box is a great visual and kinesthetic tool to be more engaging in your development discussions. A favorite with HR professionals, trainers, and better … [Read more...]
Do My Employees Need External Coaching?
Is it worth investing in outside coaching for a direct report who is facing change or second-guessing his or her abilities? Here are five questions to help you find the right answer. 1. Is his or her current performance or potential, … [Read more...]
How do you know if you need an Accountability Partner?
When people are not held accountable for their performance or lack of performance, they mistakenly think they are doing okay, even though their credibility is suffering. Many busy professionals have a hard time achieving personally important goals … [Read more...]
Bring a SIDE of Leadership
The world would be better if everyone, regardless of their role, carried a SIDE of leadership. Service: Be of service. Help. Assist. Act on behalf of others. Serve people, or a cause, an idea, beyond yourself. Integrity: Hold yourself to honest … [Read more...]
Expectations, Keep ’em High
You can lower your expectations and never feel disappointment, or you can raise your expectations and manage your disappointments like an adult. The truly great things in life do not get that way through indifference. You care. You have a … [Read more...]
You ARE Leading
Just because you don't consider yourself a leader doesn't mean others aren't following you. You are leading. Get better at it. You can deny it. You can hate it. You can battle over semantics. Like it or not, you're leading someone (maybe … [Read more...]
About Revenge
Revenge isn't an aspirational goal. It can motivate you to get started, or look at yourself differently, or lift your spirits when you are filled with self-doubt. However, it's short-lived, unless you are so lacking in esteem that you NEED to … [Read more...]
What Took The Hit? Your Self-esteem or Confidence?
Generally speaking, women have issues around self-esteem and men have issues around confidence. What the difference? Self-esteem captures your essence overall, while confidence is situational. Want to change the world? Look at your language. … [Read more...]