Literate In The 20th Century – Illiterate In The 21st Century

Bill BancroftCulture, Execution, Strategy, White Papers

Stop a minute to consider what it’ll be like to be literate in the 21st Century… A profound shift is taking place in the way people communicate, express themselves. What’s happening? The 21st Century literate combine images, sounds, words with alacrity to communicate ideas, tell stories, design products, advertise services, hold meetings, explain issues, teach concepts, discuss direction. Computers themselves …

Barking At The Troops: Leaders And Communication

Bill BancroftExecution, People Development, White Papers

Barking at the troops. Happens all the time. The boss wants to inspire his people, urge them to battle, lead them to victory. Coax them into making better widgets, sell more work, complete tasks on time and under budget. She goes from meeting to meeting, giving her ten-minute pep talks. He takes a few softball questions. She tells everybody to …

Leaders And Character: Know Thyself

Bill BancroftPeople Development, White Papers

To lead, know thyself. So it’s said over and over. And to know thyself means knowing your character. What’s your character? How do you describe it? For some, the answer seems easy. The descriptors roll off their tongues. To others it’s a struggle. A struggle because it can be hard to describe yourself at the very basic level of character. …

Effective Leaders Capture the Unused Ideas

Bill BancroftPeople Development, White Papers

Ever wonder what happened to the unused ideas germinated on the way to finding the solution to your project? Where did they go? Did anyone save them? Because experience shows there could be gold in those ideas. Keeping those unused ideas is the leader’s job. While a team is focused on narrowing down the number and scope of ideas in …

Getting Past Loggerheads

Bill BancroftCulture, White Papers

Ever found yourself in a standoff? You’re at loggerheads. Neither you nor your colleague will budge. There seems to be no way forward. Think of the issue as a straight line and the standoff puts you at one end and your colleague at the other. It seems like the only way forward is compromise, that is, to meet somewhere in …