SummitTrek Executive Board

4 Ways You’re Unknowingly Stressing Out Your Coworkers

It’s one thing to offer help and another to actually be helpful.<p>One of the biggest sources of work-related stress has little to do with the usual culprits, like email overload or the modern workplace’s myriad distractions. It comes from the way we ask each other for help–or rather, from the fact …

You Might Be Confusing Trust With Transparency

“Trust is situational,” one CEO explains. “Just because I trust you in one circumstance doesn’t mean I’ll trust you in another.”<p>We all want to be trusted. It sounds so simple—and transparency seems like such an obvious way to gain and express it. But the relationship between the two many not be so …

How I’ve Learned To Cut Back On New Hires And Make More Promotions

Why not develop the leaders you need long before you need them?<p>Recruiting outside talent is like hunting for your car keys while you’re holding them in your hand. You feel silly when you realize you’ve had them all along. And if you’re a business leader, you might feel the same way if you tallied …

The Secret to Spotting Trends in Your Business

What can you do to give you the best odds of spotting trends early on? Follow these three tips to get the most out of your data.

9 Surprisingly Simple Ways To Get People To Respond To Your Email

We get an average of 120 emails every day. Here’s how to make your messages stand out and actually get a response.<p>Emails are so easy to send, but they’re also easy to ignore. With more than 120 messages landing in the average office worker’s inbox each day, making sure yours gets read and gets a …

Why Leading By Example Isn’t Always Enough

It takes more than just being a good person to inspire ethical conduct in employees.<p>What traits do ethical leaders share? Ask most people that question and they’ll start listing terms like “integrity,” “honesty,” “fairness,” “trustworthiness,” “compassion,” and so on. Not long after I pose this …

7 Habits Of Parents Who Leave The Office At 5 P.M. Guilt-Free

Putting in late nights at the office doesn’t always mean you are working harder. Here’s how to structure your days to get everything done.<p>If you’re still at the office after 6 p.m., the problem probably isn’t your workload; you might not be working efficiently.<p>“It’s extremely difficult if not …

Why Entrepreneurs Should Practice Pessimism

Entrepreneurs are conditioned to tell themselves, “This will work. It has to work!” That might be a dangerous habit.<p><i>Editor’s Note: This story contains one of our 10 Best Business Lessons of 2016. Click here to read the full list.</i><p>Drew Houston always hoped that Dropbox would change the world, but he …

How To Optimise For Customer Delight

“You’re here for the Valium?” blurted the dental receptionist as they arrived.The young man looked blankly at her and then at his mother. He was …

The Important Question Every Employee Should Be Able to Answer

<i>The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute</i> …

How To Grow The Purpose-Driven Workforce

4 steps to creating a workforce that is devoted to making an impact.<p>An overwhelming majority of the American workforce is not fulfilled at work. And, at a gut level we all know the sad reality that most people at work aren’t thriving. To date, the conversation about work has been in broad strokes …

Design For The Outcome You Want

Susan is the VP of Sales at a large company. She’s more than a little frustrated that her sales team keep selling legacy products to customers and …

9 Things That Make Good Employees Quit | Inc.com

It's pretty incredible how often you hear managers complaining about their best employees leaving, and they really do have something to complain about--few things are as costly and disruptive as good people walking out the door.<p>Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the …

Read This Google Email About Time Management Strategy

A Google employee teaches his colleagues how to block out interruptions and set aside “make time.”<p><i>Editor’s Note: This article is one of the top 10 Leadership stories of 2015. See the full list here.</i><p>I recently wrote an email to our team that posed a simple challenge in time management. The response …

The One Thing You Should Be Doing At The Beginning Of Every Meeting

In some workplaces, scheduling time for small talk can save lives. But with all teams, that act of building trust is crucial.<p>Building trust is a delicate concept; it’s very hard to build, and extremely easy to destroy.<p>But in the workplace, establishing trust is vital for growth and bridging social …

5 Habits Of Truly Disruptive Leaders

Disruption and leadership might seem opposing forces. Here’s how the best leaders reconcile the two.<p>On its face, leadership’s goals don’t seem to line up with dictionary definitions of disruption. Here’s <i>Merriam-Webster</i>‘s:<p><b>disrupt:</b> (<i>verb</i> dis·rupt \dis-ˈrəpt\) to cause (something) to be unable to …

The One Thing Managers Aren’t Doing That Could Cost Them Employees

Four reasons you should have career discussions with your employees.<p>Where do you see yourself in the next five years? It’s a common question managers ask in an interview. But once the job is filled, managers forget to revisit the question, leaving many employees feeling neglected and lost.<p>A recent …

5 Traits Every Young Leader Needs to Be Successful

Do Your Actions And Story Align?

Have you ever seen the somber, suited doorman at Cartier chasing a thief, searching a customer’s bag or stopping a young woman from entering the …

Prepare, Plan, then Pivot

Creating an Annual Business Plan is more than just writing a document, it's a guide to keep your company's goals organized, on track and realistic.

How To Turn Your Good Ideas Into Great Questions

How Steve Jobs Ran His Legendary Meetings | Inc.com

About half a year ago, I published an article that analyzed a series of meetings Steve Jobs held with his team at NeXT, the company he founded after getting kicked out of Apple. The video is fascinating to watch, and contains valuable lessons for anyone trying to run smart and productive …

The Three Biggest Differences Between Being Busy And Being Productive

Here’s how to figure out if you’re super productive or just needlessly busy.<p>You’re running around with a to-do list a mile long, crossing off item after item. You’re feeling super productive. But are you really being productive, or are you just being busy?<p>Read more >><p>Barbara Hemphill, founder of …

Before You Pitch

At the end of the event a small group gathered around the presenter. He had flown in from Europe the day before and was bound to be jet lagged. …

Who Is This Not For?

When we spend time thinking about growing our businesses we tend to focus on our ideal customers—the people we know we want to matter to. A great way …

Why You Need A Personal Code And How to Create One

Recently I heard an interview with a prominent world leader who was asked about his formative years. One of the things he did that served him, he …

8 Personality Types And How To Manage Them

Getting the most out of everyone on your team can be a challenge. This can help.<p>Every team is made up of different personality types, and some demand more time and attention from the leaders who manage them than others. As every team leader knows, there’s no hard and fast management strategy that …

How Much Is Enough?

The Difference Between Strategy And Tactics And Why You Need To Know

Imagine your business mission and vision as a mountain in the distance.<br>Your strategy is the route map—the path you choose that’s going to take you to …

One Thing I Do Every Day That Helps Me Say No

Every day at the bottom of my personal planner, I write this phrase: “I exist to help people and institutions discover, live and communicate a better …