Do you want to be a stronger leader? In today’s world, too many of us think leading means doing it all on our own — everything from making the “To Do” lists to checking each task off on those lists. But that’s a recipe for burnout! Most strong leaders don’t do everything on their own; they delegate. The power of accepting help can help you become a strong leader by enabling you to work less and do more.

Topics: Professional Development, Communications, Leadership, Management

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be really good at problem-solving, while others struggle to make decisions? Did you know that when you strengthen your problem-solving skills, it can actually help you learn how to make better decisions? That’s because you’ll gain the confidence, acquire the analytical skills, and develop the creativity you need to be able to make predictions about the results of different solutions. We’ve put together some of the best ways to strengthen your problem-solving skills and become a more confident decision-maker.

Topics: Professional Development, Leadership, Management

Established by the U.S. Small Business Administration, October marks National Women’s Small Business Month and while the glass ceiling might still be prevalent, women are steadily coming toward the forefront of small business ownership.

Topics: Small Business, Business, Leadership, Growing a Business, Leaders

Updated May 13, 2022

Why do people hate change? Because most people feel comfortable doing what they have always been doing. Psychologically speaking, it’s not just that people fear change, (although they absolutely do). They genuinely believe what they’ve been doing, and how they’ve been doing it, is the best possible way to do it. And the longer they’ve been doing it this way, the better, more efficient, more economical, etc., it is (or so they believe).

Topics: Professional Development, Communications, Leadership, Management

As an employer, you can better understand your employees’ traits and roles within your organization by using personality tests. Personality tests can be extremely valuable to all employers across many different industries and organizations.

Topics: Professional Development, HR & Organizational Effectiveness, Communications, Leadership, Management

The world is globalizing at an increasing rate, and trends don’t show signs of this slowing down any time soon. Here in the United States, we’re increasingly becoming a more diverse nation with every business industry consisting of a large variety of people from different cultures, life experiences, family types, generations, and more. This is why the ability to work across technologies, borders and cultures has become so important.

Topics: Professional Development, HR & Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership, Management

The Holidays are such an important time of year for small businesses. For many, especially in retail, the Holidays may make or break the entire financial year. Craft fairs and holiday markets have become popular among both consumers and small businesses during this time. But are businesses doing all they can to maximize their retail sales from holiday markets?

Topics: Professional Development, Small Business, Retail, HR & Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership, Management, Starting a Business, Growing a Business

Owning your own retail business can be an exciting, albeit challenging, undertaking. When you look around at some of the larger brands you can see how shifts in consumer behavior and brand loyalty has changed the success and trajectory of a once rather predictable industry. For instance, Wal-Mart announced earlier this year that they would close 269 locations in 2016, accounting for roughly three percent of their stores.

Topics: Professional Development, Small Business, Retail, HR & Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership, Management, Starting a Business, Growing a Business

There’s something exciting about getting your business to the point of being able to bring on new employees. Your business is growing and you’re successful enough to be able to hire people to share some of the load.

On the other hand, there’s something tricky about hiring the right person for the job. As a manager or business owner, there’s a lot on the line in terms workplace culture and customer service quality, not to mention the time and resources it takes to train them. Hiring the wrong person and having them leave is something all companies seek to avoid, but it does happen.

Topics: Professional Development, Small Business, HR & Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership, Management, Starting a Business, Growing a Business

Office politics exist in every workplace setting and are difficult to avoid. Even though you don’t need to participate in office politics to survive, putting your head in the sand and “not getting involved” isn’t practical either — if you aren’t careful, you can be embroiled in a problem you didn’t see coming.

The following top 10 best practices for navigating workplace politics and personalities should help you stay ahead of the game and keep you focused on why you are there — to do your job.

Topics: Professional Development, Small Business, Communications, Leadership, Management