Living Your Leadership Legacy

CSI's Seth Davies speaks today at the August 2010 HR Association of Palm Beach County Dinner Event

2010-08-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Seth Davies, Managing Partner of Client Services for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), is scheduld to speak today at the August 2010 HR Palm Beach County Dinner Event in Palm Beach, Florida. The topic of Seth's presentation is "Aligning Key Initiatives in a Challenging Economy"

Seth is a popular and energetic public speaker. He offers several public accountability workshops, leadership workshops, a scorecard workshops each year. Visit the CSI website at www.competitive-solutions.net for more information on upcoming workshops, events and webinars.

CSI's consultants have been chosen to speak at many conferences around North America in 2010. You can see the calendar of upcoming speaking engagements and download selected slides shows at www.competitive-solutions.net.

The SHRM 2010 Conference feedback is in!

2010-08-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

CSI's Shane Yount Delivered a MEGA session presentation on Legacy Leadership and recieves very high marks!

Mr. Yount gave a presentation on his latest book "Leaving Your Leadership Legacy: A Focus on Authenticity, Adaptability, and Sustainability." Shane's presentation discussed redefining personal leadership development and promised a coveted experience for any leader at any level desiring to leave a positive and lasting imprint upon their organizations, and more importantly their people. The session was titled "The Trilogies of Legacy Leadership: Moving from the 3Ps to the 3Cs."

In a letter, Shane received from Michelle Dolieslager, Program Manager - Conference Programming, she provided seven full pages of comments and quotes from the participants. With over 600 participant feedback forms collected, Shane scored very high marks on a scale of one to five, five being the highest.

On "Quality of information presented" Shane scored a 4.81, while the average speaker scored a 4.35. On "Applicability to my professional development" Shane scored a 4.63, while the average score for all SHRM speakers was a 4.30.

Some of the participant comments included the following:

"By far the best presentation and speaker I've seen."

"Made me realize how much I take on and that should be owned and executed by my staff."

"...gave us a practical approach for addressing the issues."

"Shane was totally awesome - presentation was completely relevant to today's management - totally hit home!"

"Humorous and Enjoyable! Thank you for communicating complex thoughts in simple terms"

"Wow! Truly transformational! I am most anxious to return to work with the new philosophy."

"Shane's energy and examples were great! I'm very excited to read his book."

"Great content, useful info, relevant to me."

"...useful, made me think, and validated my leadership/accountability approach."

"Compelling information delivered in a humorous presentation that definitely connected with me. Great!"

"Excellent! I will really use this to improve my business."

"..lots of useful information to take with me and put into action."

"Wow! Excellent session! Value added and can immediately begin to implement with my organization."

"Wish there was more time for this session."

"Please repeat this session next year!"

Less Time + More Meaning = Better Meetings

2010-07-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

Less Time + More Meaning = Better Meetings
When was the last time you left a meeting and thought to yourself "Wow! That was a great meeting?" Let's assume that this moment has happened for you at least once in your career. What made that particular meeting so great? Was it just luck? Whatever made that meeting so great – did you attempt to replicate it so all of your other meetings turn out so well?

So, what makes for a great meeting and how can you ensure that all your meetings are great? For me it’s simple. The best meetings are the ones that are quick, meaningful and result in change or action following the meeting.

Meaningful, effective meetings should always include the following:
Structure - A known structure allows the participants to come prepared and ready to contribute.

Ground Rules - With some basic rules for how to hold a meeting attendees can come ready to maintain the proper focus on the meeting topic.

People - It's important to have the right people in the meeting. If someone is unable to attend, they should send a delegate to the meeting to represent them and their department, division, or work area.

Outcomes - With a focus on defined, specific outcomes you’ll provide meaning to the meeting.

Actions - In order to accomplish the desired outcomes, participants will need to have list of actionable items moving forward. Let’s face it, if all the group does is sit around and talk about the issues, has anything really been accomplished? The most meaningful item coming out of any meeting is a list of what is to be done, which is recorded, distributed, and referenced at the next meeting.

Important elements for more meaningful meetings include:
An Agenda. Knowing the order and the list of activities to take place brings a structure and stability to the discussion.

Meeting Roles. Having pre-defined roles for participants keeps the group more engaged. Three recommended meeting roles are as follows:
1. The Facilitator directs the meeting and helps keep the pace flowing.
2. The Action Taker keeps a written record of the meeting and any resulting actions moving forward.
3. The Participants. The Meeting Participants are responsible for taking part, adding information, and following-up on actions.

The Action Register. An Action Register is a tool used to document actions taken by the participants at the meeting. This powerful tool increases accountability by recording actions, denoting the person responsible for those actions, and the date they will have their action completed.

A Scorecard. A Business Scorecard allows participants to know and track their progress. Whether the scorecard is for a specific project, department, or the entire company the information is important for the group to understand where they need to focus their corrective actions and current efforts.

A Time Limit. A meeting time limit will allow participants to focus on the topic, while at the same time provide incentive to make the time meaningful. Teams may require regular, shorter meetings to accomplish the stated purpose or outcome. You can’t always solve all issues or complete all your tasks in one long-running, bloated meeting.

By implementing more structure, introducing meeting roles, and having established outcomes with action items you’ll be able to save time in meetings and increase the amount of time taking action outside of the meetings.

What else would you suggest doing to make meetings more meaningful?

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Learn strategies for holding meaningful meetings and more at our next public workshop.

Please contact CSI to learn how to develop sustainable, standard meeting processes.

Shane Yount selected to speak at the 20th Annual SHRM-Atlanta HR Conference

2010-07-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the 20th Annual SHRM-Atlanta HR Conference, October 18 - 19, 2010, at the Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta, GA. The topic of Shane's presentation will be "Extreme Leadership Makeovers - Training to Drive Sustainable Business Processes."

CSI's Adam Spisak to speak at the 19th Annual Golden State SHRM Conference in New Jersey

2010-07-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Adam Spisak, Senior Consultant for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), will speak at the 19th Annual Golden State Council-SHRM State Conference and Expo in New Jersey at the Ocean Place Resort & Spa in Long Branch. Adam will speak on Monday, November 1st from 1:45 pm to 2:45 pm. The topic of his session will be "Leadership GPS - Growth, Performance, Sustainment."

I'm speaking at National SHRM in San Deigo - 2010 SHRM

2010-06-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the news about my opportunity to speak at the 2010 National SHRM Conference...

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), will speak at the Society for Human Resource Management's 62nd Annual Conference & Exposition in San Diego. Shane will speak on Tuesday, June 29th. His MEGA session begins at 10:45 AM with the topic of "The Trilogies of Legacy Leadership: Moving from the 3Ps to the 3Cs." He will be speaking in Room 6 CDEF.

Shane is a popular and energetic public speaker. He offers several public accountability workshops, leadership workshops, a scorecard workshops each year. Visit the CSI website at www.competitive-solutions.net for more information on upcoming workshops, events and webinars.

Shane works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as the US Army, Michelin Tire, Harley-Davidson, Revlon, Genentech, Boar's Head, and several others.

CSI's consultants have been chosen to speak at many conferences around North America in 2010 and 2011. You can see the calendar of upcoming speaking engagements and download selected slides shows at www.competitive-solutions.net.

CSI's John Pyecha to speak at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Annual Conference

2010-06-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

John Pyecha, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), will speak on Monday, June 7th at the BRIDGING THE GAPS: Society of Manufacturing Engineers Annual Conference in Nashville, TN. John's session will begin at 4:00 PM with the topic of "Scorecards: How to Educate, Facilitate and Motivate."

John is a popular and energetic public speaker. He offers several public accountability workshops, leadership workshops, a scorecard workshops each year. Visit the CSI website at www.competitive-solutions.net for more information on upcoming workshops, events and webinars.

John works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as the US Army, Michelin Tire, Harley-Davidson, Revlon, Genentech, Boar's Head, and several others.

Injecting Your Employees with a Sense of Urgency

2010-06-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Injecting Your Employees with a Sense of Urgency
Urgency. What is it? What comes to mind for most people is an emergency situation often accompanied by a feeling of panic. A sense of urgency – not urgency associated with an emergency situation, but the urgency needed to drive daily business results is essential for sustained success. In other words, urgency means "getting it done and doing it on time."

Unfortunately, urgency is often a key ingredient missing from many organizations. Injecting a sense of urgency into your team is one of your greatest challenges as a leader. If your team is lacking a sense of urgency surrounding day-to-day activities, consider utilizing the following tips:

Communication - Communicate routinely and consistently. Keeping employees informed is critical to keeping them engaged in the business. With timely and relevant information employees will feel a greater sense of urgency to get more done.

Look Ahead - Integrate discussions of business performance into your routine meetings. It is not enough to simply post business results. Leaders should discuss the results and then move forward by shaping the discussion on the next set of milestones. Keeping a forward-looking view of goals makes daily work feel more relevant and fosters that sense of urgency needed to hit those goals.

Make a Connection - Connect employees to the business. When sharing high level information and/or business results, link these results to how the team impacts them. Without this link, the information will likely be meaningless.

Take Action - Drive a sense of collective accountability. Do not assume complete responsibility for performance. Hold team members accountable for team performance and for fulfilling job responsibilities. Require your employees to develop corrective action plans for performance metrics that are not meeting goals. Remember, they know more about what they do than anyone. Hold them accountable for using this knowledge to help the business.

Share Results with Others - Provide opportunities for your team to present business results to other teams. Sharing this responsibility encourages teams to better understand their performance and the steps they are taking to improve.

Provide Support - Promptly respond to questions, concerns, and problems elevated to you. Clearly communicate timeframes for follow-up and consistently request status updates within these timeframes.

Set Expectations - Clearly define and communicate behavioral expectations. These behavioral expectations will guide people towards the behaviors needed for successful operation.

Give a Thumbs Up - Recognize individuals and teams that respond with urgency. Providing recognition encourages the behavior to happen again. You can take it a step further by inviting the employee to a brief meeting with your boss and provide even more recognition. Public pats on the back go a long way toward sustaining the proper behaviors.

What do you think? How else can you inject a healthy sense of urgency into every day work? Please contribute to the discussion with your own thoughts and feedback. I’ll be happy to post your comments and suggestions.

I spoke yesterday at the 2010 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in St. Louis

2010-05-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

from May 25, 2010

CSI's Shane Yount speaks today at the 2010 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in St. Louis

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), speaks today at the 2010 ASQ World Conference in St. Louis. The topic of Shane's session is "Leaving Your Leadership Legacy."

Shane works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as the US Army, Michelin Tire, Harley-Davidson, Revlon, Genentech, Boar's Head, and several others.

CSI's Debra Boggan speaks today at the Muskegon Area Labor Management Conference in Michigan

2010-05-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Debra Boggan, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), speaks today at the Muskegon Area Labor Management Conference in Michigan. Debra's session begins at 8:00 AM with the topic of "Teaming with Unions: Partnering for Success."

Debra is a popular and energetic public speaker. She offers several public accountability workshops, leadership workshops, a scorecard workshops each year. Visit the CSI website at www.competitive-solutions.net for more information on upcoming workshops, events and webinars.

Debra works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as the US Army, Michelin Tire, Harley-Davidson, Revlon, Genentech, Boar's Head, and several others.

New Starter Bundle Prices for PBL ScoreCard

2010-05-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Traditionally scorecards are meant to serve one main goal; they show the current state of the business. Unfortunately, many organizations today are satisfied to only meet that goal. In reality, this is a flawed objective. To illustrate the point, think of a thermometer which tells the current temperature. Now think of a thermostat, which tells current temperature as well as giving one the ability to control the temperature. Many companies have scorecards which only work as a thermometer. They tell employees the temperature but do not give them a way to change it! Business Scorecards should be viewed as a thermostat and used as such.

Competitive Solutions, Inc.^® is offering some excellent Starter Bundle prices to help you make that change from using a thermometer-style scorecard to a more powerful, more meaningful thermostat-style solution. By eliminating any up-front investment customers can get started for less than $1 a day per user! To make it easy, Competitive Solutions, Inc. is now offering three Starter Bundles for customers needing up to 10, 25, or 50 users.

Knowing the "temperature" of your business is good, but simply not good enough. Take control of your own success with PBL ScoreCard^® today!

Get Started Today:
Sign up for a live, online demo
Request a free trial on www.pblscorecard.com
Come to a scorecard workshop

I'll be speaking TWICE at Southwest SHRM in October

2010-05-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

News from my company website...

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the 69th Annual HR Southwest Conference, October 10 - 13, 2010, in Fort Worth, TX. Shane will speak on Monday, October 11th and Tuesday October 12th. The topic of Shane's presentation on Monday is "Leadership GPS – Growth, Performance, Sustainment." The topic of Shane's presentation on Tuesday is "Man vs. Wild: Taming the Scorecard Beast."

Shane works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as the US Army, Michelin Tire, Harley-Davidson, Revlon, Genentech, Boar's Head, and several others.

CSI's consultants have been chosen to speak at numerous conferences around North America in 2010. You can see the calendar of upcoming speaking engagements and download selected slides shows at www.competitive-solutions.net.

CSI's Seth Davies selected to speak at the 2010 Wisconsin State SHRM Conference

2010-05-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

Seth Davies, Managing Partner of Client Services for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the upcoming 2010 Wisconsin State SHRM Conference to be held in Appleton, Wisconsin. Seth will speak on Thursday, October 7th from 1:00 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. The topic of Seth's presentation is "Extreme Leadership Makeovers: Training to Drive Sustainable Business Processes."

I speak today at the 95th Annual ISM Conference in San Diego

2010-04-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

CSI's Shane Yount speaks today at the 95th Annual ISM Conference in San Diego

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), speaks today at the 95th Annual International Supply Management Conference in San Diego. Shane's session begins at 9:00 AM with the topic of "Scorecards: The Key to Accountability."

I spoke at the SHRM 2010 Staffing Management Conference & Exposition in Orlando, Florida

2010-04-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

CSI's Shane Yount speaks at the SHRM 2010 Staffing Management Conference & Exposition in Orlando, Florida

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), speaks at the SHRM 2010 Staffing Management Conference & Exposition in Orlando, Florida. Shane speaks today, April 27th, 2010, at 3:30 p.m. until 4:45 p.m. The topic of Shane's presentation is "Have you Reached a Performance Plateau? How World Class Companies are Sustaining Operational Excellence."

Shane works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as the US Army, Michelin Tire, Harely-Davidson, Revlon, Genentech, Boar's Head, and several others.

CSI's Seth Davies selected to speak at the 2010 Indiana SHRM Conference

2010-04-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

Seth Davies, Managing Partner of Client Services for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the upcoming 2010 Indiana SHRM Conference to be held in Indianapolis. Seth will speak on Tuesday, August 17th. The topic of Seth's presentation is "Extreme Leadership Makeover: So You Think You Can Lead?"

Anna VerSteeg selected to speak at APICS 2010 in Nashville, TN

2010-04-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Anna VerSteeg, Principal and Founder of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the 2010 APICS International Conference & Expo, October 17-19, 2010, in Nashville, TN. The topic of Anna's presentation is "Reset, Reboot, Recover Your Operational Excellence."

Anna is a popular and energetic public speaker. She offers several public accountability workshops, leadership workshops, a scorecard workshops each year. Visit the CSI website at www.competitive-solutions.net for more information on upcoming workshops, events and webinars.

Anna works with several nationally-known, highly successful organizations, such as Bombardier/Learjet, the US Army, BAE Systems, Harely-Davidson, Lockheed Martin, and several others.

2010 APICS Conference in Nashville

2010-04-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

News from my company website...

CSI's Shane Yount selected to speak at APICS 2010 in Nashville, TN

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the 2010 APICS International Conference & Expo, October 17-19, 2010, in Nashville, TN. The topic of Shane's presentation is "Extreme Leadership Makeovers – Training to Drive Sustainable Business Processes."

Re-Charge Your Recession Weary Leaders

2010-04-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

2009 is over and not a minute too soon. Many have referred to the last 18 months as the "Great Recession." For many leaders within their companies it felt more like the Great Depression. Leaders in all realms of business have felt the impact. The constant pressure of downsizing, missed financial targets, elevated responsibilities and an overall mood of anxiety has left many leaders wondering when will the "next shoe drop."

Over the last nine months, our senior consultants have been analyzing a cross section of leaders from both our public and private clients. Needless to say, there are some alarming trends evolving. Over 78% of leaders report feelings of being overwhelmed and anxious. These leaders went on to say that the corporate mood has been so focused on "survival" and cost containment that any focus on personal well- being, development, or inspiration is non-existent. Operating in this type of business climate for extended periods of time has long term negative repercussions for the organization. The continued mantra of "more with less" has worn our leaders down and created a culture of "today" based thinking and "organization first and individual last."

2010 must be different. Despite the challenges of 2009, organizations must make leadership investment and development in 2010 a corporate priority. Regardless of organizational constraints, leaders must be made to feel vital, important, necessary, and inspired. Organizations must move from the "survival is good" and "let's hunker down" mode into the "hey, we made it and together we can make it better" mode. We at CSI recognize for some organizations, this can be a daunting task. We are still in a fragile economic recovery in many business sectors. While we are not suggesting it is time to celebrate, we are suggesting that executives must place the same rigorous focus on its leaders as it has on its financials. At CSI, we have seen time and time again the power of a motivated and inspired leadership organization. Conversely, we have also seen the destructive nature that overwhelmed and uninspired leaders can have on organizational dynamics and effectiveness.

So our question to you is simple…What are you going to do in 2010 to re-motivate, re-inspire, and re-charge your recession weary leaders?

We at CSI are excited to announce what will surely become a pertinent and dynamic way to answer the question above:

LEADERSHIP GPS – Growth, Performance, Sustainment

Building off our respected Process Based Leadership methodology, CSI is excited to introduce the launch of our next great system. LEADERSHIP GPS – Growth, Performance, Sustainment is a scalable leadership development system to re-engage, re-energize, and re-focus your organizational leaders.

There are three core stages in our system:
1. Evaluate
2. Educate
3. Execute

Evaluate: No two organizations are identical and neither are their leaders. Working with the organizational sponsors, CSI will evaluate the current organization’s climate. We will conduct a Needs Assessment among the leaders, execute tools such as 360 degree evaluations, and make scalable recommendations to the organization regarding the most critical attributes necessary for the leadership re-charge.

Educate: Utilizing the needs assessment data, CSI will build a customized education plan that will include cutting edge modules, relevant books and research, and an exciting component called "Leaders Teaching Leaders" which will allow organizational leaders the ability to learn from one another.

Execute: Following the education stage, CSI will partner with the participants to provide them with real-time leadership development feedback through shadowing, coaching, and mentoring. We have already seen the incredible buy-in with this system when people see that the organization is committed to them and see them as a vital part to future development.

2010 is here. What is your organizational direction? Are you ready to emphasize growth over survival? Are you ready to demonstrate to your organizational leaders that they are vital and valuable? Are you ready to re-calibrate your organizational GPS?

John Pyecha Speaks Today at 2010 Lean Six Sigma Conference in Orlando

2010-03-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

John Pyecha, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), will speak today at the Lean & Six Sigma Conference in Orlando. The title of his presentation is "Business Scorecards: How to Educate, Facilitate & Motivate."

I'm Speaking at HR Florida in August!

2010-03-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.pblscorecard.com/News_ShaneYountSelectedHRFlorida2010.html

news from my website...

CSI's Shane Yount selected to speak at the HR Florida 2010 Conference & Exposition

Shane Yount, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the HR Florida 2010 Conference & Exposition to be held in Orlando, Florida. Shane will speak on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. The topic of Shane's presentation is "Scorecards: The Key to Accountability"

CSI Announces PBL ScoreCard Webinar Schedule for March

2010-03-01T11:04:00.001-08:00

Is your balanced scorecard out of whack? Are you having difficulty driving action and hitting your goals?

Join a free public webinar of PBL ScoreCard 2.6 on March 4th at Noon Eastern or March 24th at 9:00 AM Eastern and discover what this simple, yet powerful tool can do for you and your organization.

PBL ScoreCard - The software that drives performance.
Manage your company's scorecards, dashboards, meeting agendas, action plans, meeting notes, performance charts and documents... all online.
PBL ScoreCard® is the most complete and advanced scorecard software on the market.

PBL ScoreCard® Software Training
CSI offers web-based or on-site training utilizing CSI's powerful business scorecard tool. Experts will assist with installation as well as the development of scorecards with an integrated communication and accountability process. CSI also offers basic user and super user training on the software.

CSI's John Pyecha selected to speak at the 18th Annual Florida Sterling Conference in Orlando, FL on June 3, 2010

2010-02-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

John Pyecha, Principal for Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the 18th Annual Florida Sterling Conference in Orlando, FL on June 3, 2010. The title of his presentation is "Reset, Reboot, Recover Your Operational Excellence Through Process Based Leadership®."

CSI's Paul Hock selected to speak at the 2010 Oklahoma SHRM Human Resource State Conference and Expo

2010-02-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

CSI's Paul Hock selected to speak at upcoming 2010 Oklahoma SHRM State Human Resource Conference and Expo

Paul Hock, Senior Business Process Consultant and Project Manager with Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), has been selected to speak at the 2010 Oklahoma SHRM State Human Resource State Conference and Expo to be held at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Paul will speak on Friday, May 7th, 2009, 7:00am. The topic of Paul's presentation is "Leadership GPS - Growth, Performance, Sustainability"

Paul Hock is a popular and energetic public speaker. He offers several public accountability workshops, leadership workshops, a scorecard workshops each year. Visit the CSI website at www.competitive-solutions.net for more information on upcoming workshops, events and webinars.

Social Media really works!

2010-02-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

This year I have been putting more daily effort into social media solutions, such as Twitter and LinkedIn. It's going well and I've got to admit that I did not envision it being so effective when I first got started. I'm glad to announce that I am "tweeting" more, getting more followers, connecting with more people on LinkedIn, and finding new and creative ways to announce what's happening at CSI and with our PBL ScoreCard software.

Other than Twitter and LinkedIn, what do you find effective for keeping in contact with all your friends, co-workers, and other professional contacts?

CSI Announces 2010 Harley-Davidson PBL Workshop & Behind-the-Scenes Tour

2010-02-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

The Harley-Davidson Motor Company has long held the image of challenging stereotypes and the status quo.

This is more than an advertising image to Harley-Davidson. It is the foundation of how they run the business. On March 25th this U.S. based motorcycle manufacturer will open their doors for a private tour of the facility. This is a rare opportunity to see successful business-focused work groups in action. This plant also has the unique distinction of being the only Harley-Davidson facility to produce an entire motorcycle, the groundbreaking VRSCA V-Rod®.

Harley-Davidson’s success is based on a joint partnership between the company and two unions. This partnership extends throughout the facility – all areas and all levels and all 900+ employees. This is a true high performance group-based operation with full participation of all employees focusing on bottom-line business results and improvement. Employee work groups meet regularly to discuss production targets and develop action plans to address issues. The three primary benefits they have achieved as a result of their group structure are:
• Full involvement by all employees in the business and its success
• Business accountability at all levels of the organization
• Decisions are made at the point closest to issues by those involved

In conjunction with this tour, Competitive Solutions, Inc. will conduct a Process Based Leadership® workshop on March 23-25. The workshop will focus on structured processes that concentrate on improving the bottom-line business results using non-negotiable processes to drive communication, trust and accountability. Discover accountability techniques, performance management systems, case studies and break-out sessions in this dynamic workshop. Not only will you be able to benchmark your organization against Harley-Davidson, you will also learn the steps your organization needs to take to operate with focus , urgency and accountability. You will learn about the importance of each of these steps and see how Harley-Davidson has used them to drive business success.

Full Agenda & Registration Form
Call (800) 246-8694 to get signed up today!

The cost for the Harley-Davidson Workshop and Tour is $1,595 per person. This includes breakfasts, lunches, materials, and transportation to and from Harley-Davidson.

CSI's consultants lead several public workshops across North America each year. You can also see the calendar of upcoming speaking engagements and download selected slides shows at www.competitive-solutions.net.

Why Leaders Fail and Why It's Not Their Fault

2010-02-04T11:30:00.001-08:00

Leaders today, face a multitude of challenges. Leaders are being asked to act as coaches, mentors, facilitators, mediators, educators, motivators, and many other demanding roles. Leaders are routinely required to identify team members that need additional skill development and assist with those members’ career planning. Additionally, leaders are also put under tremendous strain to motivate their team and keep their focus set on the organization’s mission and goals. They are often asked to “roll-up their sleeves” and work alongside team members, while the leader’s own work piles up. Regardless of all their leader’s initiatives, the team members are frustrated and feel increasingly disconnected from management.

Are you a leader facing these same challenges today? Are you pulled in too many directions at once? Do you have more on your plate

article continued at http://www.competitive-solutions.net/press_WhyLeadersFail.htm

Does Your Team Have an Entitlement Mentality?

2010-02-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

Let’s begin by examining what is meant by "entitlement mentality." By definition, entitlement is when a person believes that s/he is deserving of some particular reward or benefit. The key issue is that the person believes this; whether is it true or untrue. Is this an issue? How can you overcome this and break the entitlement mentality in your organization? One way is to properly and publicly show recognition.

Ask yourself this – do I have a routine method for recognizing my employees? Do they even know what recognition looks like?

Recognition in a team environment is one of the most challenging aspects of being a leader today. For recognition to become part of an organization’s culture, it must first begin with...

continued at http://www.competitive-solutions.net/press_EntitlementMentality.htm

I'm Back!

2010-02-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

OK, so I got away from my blog for a while. I am back now and determined to keep you all updated!

Measuring Your Training Effectiveness

2009-03-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

One of the most crucial components of a training program is often overlooked - a method to audit training implementation. All too frequently, organizations implement a training plan without a clear definition of the results they require from the training, or the appropriate means to achieve the results.

Without a plan, training efforts often yield no results or unintended results leadership was not expecting. By knowing what is expected of the training and the appropriate measures to gauge effectiveness, leadership has the ability to objectively analyze all results and modify their training plan as necessary.

To circumvent this difficulty, leadership must first determine their current state and their desired future state. Leadership must then define the specific skills that are necessary to achieve their desired state. Finally, leadership must determine the outcomes they expect to see as a result of training. While this may seem like a great deal to accomplish before the training actually begins, it is in fact these steps that will go the farthest in ensuring the highest possible return on training investment.

Based on the training 'pre-work' information, leadership has the tools to develop and implement an effective training plan. Some components of an effective training plan include: training outcomes, standard operating procedures, and an audit process to create an environment of continuous improvement and accountability for training implementation. When establishing an audit process, leadership must develop a schedule that determines the frequency of training process audits, a corrective action plan development for skill deficiencies, as well as recognition system for skill proficiency. By employing a process of audit, follow-up, and re-audit, the skill acquisition and implementation become a part of the culture, rather than a typical 'program of the month' initiative.

-article from "Living Your Leadership Legacy" Newsletter
by Competitive Solutions, Inc.

Competitive Solutions, Inc.(CSI) is a leadership training and consulting company that specializes in helping organizations improve communication, develop meaningful business scorecards, create accountability at all levels and set behavioral expectations using a business alignment system called Process Based Leadership.®

CSI Invites You to Tour One of the Most Successful Organizations in Good Times or Bad: Harley-Davidson

2009-03-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

The Harley-Davidson Motor Company has long held the image of challenging stereotypes and the status quo.

This is more than an advertising image to Harley-Davidson. It is the foundation of how they run the business. On April 23rd this U.S. based motorcycle manufacturer will open their doors for a private tour of the facility. This is a rare opportunity to see successful business-focused work groups in action. This plant also has the unique distinction of being the only Harley-Davidson facility to produce an entire motorcycle, the groundbreaking VRSCA V-Rod®.

In conjunction with this tour, Competitive Solutions, Inc. will conduct a Process Based Leadership® workshop on April 21st-22nd. The workshop will focus on structured processes that concentrate on improving the bottom-line business results using non-negotiable processes to drive communication, trust and accountability. Discover accountability techniques, performance management systems, case studies and break-out sessions in this dynamic workshop. Not only will you be able to benchmark your organization against Harley-Davidson, you will also learn the steps your organization needs to take to operate with focus, urgency and accountability. You will learn about the importance of each of these steps and see how Harley-Davidson has used them to drive business success.

CSI's consultants lead several public workshops across North America each year. You can also see the calendar of upcoming speaking engagements or download selected slides shows at www.competitive-solutions.net.

Prioritize to Overcome Overload

2009-02-12T12:55:00.001-08:00

You are feverishly working on a request from one manager when another drops a rush request on you. You are clearly in a bind, but rather than say anything to either of them, you stay late and take work home to get it finished. Sound familiar?

Too much to do in too little time? Too much pressure from constant deadlines? Move from the reactive mode to a proactive mindset. When overwhelmed with requests or demands, take a few minutes to Stop - Think - then Act.

The following steps will help you to increase everyone's effectiveness:
1. Use the strengths of others
2. Don't procrastinate. Get it done the first time.
3. Organize your work area
4. Organize time
5. Use the Action Register

Use the following list to help set priorities:
1. Emergencies
2. Customer Demands
3. Business goals below target
4. Day-to-Day tasks
5. Process improvement initiatives
6. Personal action plans
7. Personal preference

Competitive Solutions, Inc.(CSI) is a leadership training and consulting company that specializes in helping organizations improve communication, develop meaningful business scorecards, create accountability at all levels and set behavioral expectations using a business alignment system called Process Based Leadership.®

Competitive Solutions, Inc. Works with Red River Army Depot to Get Bradley Tanks Back to Iraq

2009-02-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Army will repair over 1,000 Bradley Tanks this year at a cost of $1.2 million each. An additional 400 will be upgraded with the latest electronics at an average cost of $3.5 million.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, who oversees the Army’s re-equipping effort, says the Bradley's protection and firepower make it ideal for soldiers in a tough fight. "The Bradley is a remarkable platform," he says. "It can hold a squad of infantrymen and provide direct-fire support. The 25mm gun is a wonderful cannon. It gives you enormous flexibility. It's amazingly agile, very reliable and responsive. This vehicle will flat kick a--."

Competitive Solutions, Inc. began working with the Red River Army Depot (RRAD) two years ago. The Army Depot is responsible for repairing the Bradley Tanks to get them back to the war fighters in Iraq. The last new Bradley rolled off the assembly line in 1995, and the Army plans to use the armored vehicles for decades. This makes the work done by the Depot all the more important.

RRAD realized that they needed to implement a process to get the tanks delivered in less time with more reliability. They turned to Competitive Solutions, Inc. CSI assisted RRAD in improving communications, developing meaningful business scorecards, creating accountability at all levels and setting behavioral expectations using a business alignment system called Process Based Leadership®. In addition to working with the Red River Army Depot; CSI works with Corpus Christi Army Depot, Rock Island Arsenal, Tobyhanna Army Depot, Sierra Army Depot, Blue Grass Army Depot and Letterkenny Army Depot. Regardless of the industry, organizations search for a competitive means to maximize workforce potential, reduce cost and overhead, and increase quality.

Because no new Bradleys are being built, the Pentagon must rely on an extensive network to keep the Army’s 4,700 Bradleys rolling. "There is no dealership to take these vehicles to,” states Col. Paul Lepine, Program Manager for the Army’s heavy brigade combat teams. "When we service them, we need to take them through this extensive process that costs a lot because of the extensive touch labor and cost of materials. It took a year or more to repair Bradleys at the start of the war. But most vehicles can now be returned to service in five months. The quicker we can get these Bradleys back to the war fighters in Iraq the better. They’re lifesavers!"

(Segments of this article were taken from USA Today, June 26, 2008)

2009-01-28T12:24:00.001-08:00