Tag: productivity

  • March 2025 Leadership Development Carnival

    March 2025 Leadership Development Carnival

    Welcome to the March 2025 Leadership Development Carnival! Horizon Point is excited to host the carnival this month, featuring  posts from leadership experts from around the globe on the topics of communication, development, engagement, motivation, productivity, team building, and more. 

    The Framework for Organizational Excellence by John Spence

    Excellence isn’t accidental—it’s built with purpose. My new Organizational Excellence Framework brings together the key elements of success: purpose, culture, strategy, innovation, and simplicity. Read to see how it all comes together.

    How To Build a Better Relationship with Your Difficult (Icy) Boss by Karin Hurt 

    You know the type: the difficult boss barely acknowledges you, keeps conversations strictly transactional, and never lets you see their human side. Frustrating right? Here’s what to do next.

    Setting Clear Expectations for You Team by Bernd Geropp 

    When was the last time you sat down and explicitly communicated your priorities to your team? If you are thinking “They should know”, think twice. Setting clear expectations is often underestimated.

    No is a complete sentence. by Lisa Kohn 

    Lisa Kohn of Thoughtful Leaders™ Blog presents “No is a complete sentence” where she shares that although we learned to say “no” at a very young age, we need to learn to say it again. Not always, not every time, not to everyone – but to use it in a way that builds our leadership, our Thoughtfulness, and our success.

    How to Communicate a Merger and Acquisition to Employees in 9 Steps by David Grossman 

    2025 is shaping up to be the year of strategic, purpose-driven transactions according to a report from PwC. Effective communication during M&As is essential to keep your employees engaged, informed, and focused despite the changes underway. Use this roadmap to help you strategically develop your plan.

    Setting Limits: Moving Away From Dancing Around Solutions by Brenda Yoho 

    The reality is, habits—good or bad—are reinforced by what we allow rather than what we say. If we want a workplace where respect, responsibility, and accountability thrive, we must move away from avoiding difficult conversations and start addressing issues head-on.

    Why Didn’t You Tell Me? by Frank Sonnenberg 

    If you keep your thoughts to yourself, they’re worthless. Here are 23 ways to recognize excellence, express your thanks, and demonstrate that you care.

    Coaching vs Mentoring: Do you need both? by Dana Theus 

    There are many ways to get stuck in your career. When you hit a wall, it’s time to ask for help. But where should you turn? Should you consider coaching vs mentoring? What kinds of coaches and mentors would be a good fit? What other kinds of support might you find to help you out? While coaches and mentors will both offer the most direct advice and support, depending on how and why you’re stuck, you’ll find support and good ideas from a variety of other people. Use them all!

    Are You Leading or Just Managing? Let’s Find Out by Mary Ila Ward 

    The terms manager and leader often get used interchangeably, but should they? “Leading versus managing” is a common search phrase. At HPC, we don’t really think it’s a “versus” situation. You can be a good manager without being a great leader, but you can’t be a great leader without strong management skills.

    Love ‘Em, Grow ‘Em, Keep ‘Em by Bev Kaye 

    AI isn’t just on the horizon—it’s already in our workflows, reshaping industries, and sparking new conversations (and concerns) about the future of work. Here’s the truth: AI isn’t just a technology challenge—it’s a people challenge. And if you want to keep your best people as AI transforms work, you need to double down on what makes leadership human.

    Overwhelmed by Employee Development? Try ‘Microdosing’ by Julie Winkle Giulioni  

    Feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility of developing your employees? The good news is, career growth doesn’t have to come in big, time-consuming doses. Just like in medicine, ‘microdosing’ small, intentional career conversations into daily interactions can lead to meaningful growth—without adding to your workload.

    The need for moral leadership by S. Chris Edmonds  

    Moral leadership is grounded in four pillars: Let Purpose Lead, Inspire and Elevate Others, Be Animated by Values and Virtues and Build Moral Muscle. Moral leaders foster higher standards of conduct by inspiring meaningful work grounded in shared values.

    Navigating Uncertainty by Ann Van Eron  

    The winds of change are blowing fiercely in every corner of our world. Everywhere I go, people are talking about the rapid transformations and the looming uncertainty. We, as a community, are experiencing this together. How do we be resilient and navigate the uncertainty?

    How to Better Handle Embarrassing Moments by Marcia Reynolds  

    Trying to never have embarrassing moments at work can stunt your growth. Learn how to rise above, even use embarrassment, to build confidence and enjoy life more.

    The Impact of Change by Priscilla Archangel  

    Leaders must ask all stakeholders to engage with them on a journey where they balance the need to operate differently, while building new and stable networks and processes. Leaders must generate trust along the way.

    Fear of the Unknown by Bill Treasurer 

    Drawing wisdom from Plato’s Republic, this post explores how humans naturally fear what they do not know. By intentionally increasing our exposure to unfamiliar situations or people, we can transform fear into familiarity and move confidently into the unknown.

    “Can we all just get along?” Rodney King – Tips for Combatting the Political Divide in the Workplace by Diana Peterson-More  

    The data are in: 91% of employees have witnessed or experienced political clashes at work; 51% actively avoid colleagues with different political views, while 93% believe leadership’s political bias influences workplace policies and promotions. WOW. It’s time for leaders to turn this around. This post offers proven tips on how to lower the heat, how to facilitate their teams to the win-win, and to ensure productivity does not fall victim to fear and divisiveness.

    The futures after capitalism by Marcella Bremer  

    We can’t create the future we want if we can’t imagine what that would look like. Andy Hines’s book Imagining After Capitalism provides great scenarios – food for thought for organizations, too. Let’s re-kindle our imagination and agency to shape the futures that we want! Recommended reading for all organizations

    3 Priorities of Servant Leaders by Randy Conley  

    Servant leadership is often misunderstood as simply being nice or avoiding micromanagement, but it’s much more than that. In this article, Randy Conley shares 3 priorities that distinguish servant leaders from the crowd.

    Kaizen and Continuous Improvement: A CFO’s Perspective on Lean Efficiency by Jon Verbeck  

    I’m always looking for ways to boost efficiency and streamline processes. Mark DeLuzio frequently talks about Kaizen, the practice of continuous improvement, and how essential it is to examine and refine our processes regularly. Given my deep family ties to Japan, I felt compelled to explore the true meaning and origins of Kaizen.

    Two Unexpected Ways to END Your Next Meeting That Engage and Grow Your Team by Sean Glaze  

    Team meetings can (and SHOULD) be culture-building experiences that inspire action, creativity, and growth. Your team gatherings are a prime opportunity to foster collaboration and engagement, especially if you rethink how they end.

    Playbook for AI-Literate Leaders: How CEOs, CIOs & CPOs Can Stay Ahead! by Naomi Caietti  

    In today’s AI-driven world, CEOs, CIOs, CPOs, and other senior leaders must do more than just embrace AI—they must lead the charge in AI literacy. AI isn’t just an IT initiative; it’s a business transformation tool that impacts everything from talent strategy to competitive advantage.

    Reinventing Leadership for the 21st Century: Why and How Leaders Must Evolve to Thrive in Chaos by Julia Felton  

    In today’s fast-changing, unpredictable world, the leaders who thrive are not those who rely on past successes, rigid structures, or outdated management playbooks. Instead, the 21st century demands adaptive, forward-thinking, and continuously evolving leadership—a model built on reinvention.

    Thank you to the Lead Change team at Weaving Influence for continuing the LDC tradition!

  • 2024 Book of the Year

    2024 Book of the Year

    Productivity has always been one of our five operating values at Horizon Point. We tie it intimately to our value of passion, which looks something like this: Get stuff done. Get stuff done that is important and that we care about.

    We are adamant about protecting the fact that productivity doesn’t dictate how and where and when work’s done, but that it gets done and meets the need.

    This mindset hasn’t changed, but throughout 2024 our idea of what it means to be productive has grown and it is captured in our 2024 Book of the Year: Slow Productivity by Cal Newport. Seemingly an oxymoron – How can you be productive and slow? – Newport’s book gets to the heart of what it means to get stuff done that is important through his three premises:

    1. Do fewer things
    2. Work at a natural pace
    3. Obsess over quality.

    He points to the fact that, often, we are doing too many things AT ONCE and in an effort to be “productive” we are sabotaging the exact thing we are trying to accomplish. We are also being “pseudo-productive”- acting like being busy is being productive. It is not.

    We can actually be more productive if we focus on one thing at a time and hone in on what those things should be – what brings the greatest return? Working at a natural pace helps us maximize our productivity and bring those greater returns, as does obsessing over quality.

    If you are like many who think, ha, this is funny, I have zero control over what work I have to do. How can I do fewer things when I’m not in charge of those “things” I have to do? Newport will challenge your thinking on how to reframe your situation. He gives practical solutions on how to execute his three premises.

    And if you are leading people and pushing those “things” around to others, Newport’s book may help you rethink your views on productivity and who actually adds and creates the most value on your team. Looking or being busy isn’t productive.

    We often overestimate what we can get done in a day, multitasking our way through them, but slow productivity might just be the way we can multiply the underestimation of what we can get done in a year and very well save our sanity in the process.

    As always, we are so appreciative of our clients and supporters. We are beyond blessed to do work we can all be productive and passionate about. Thank you for your trust in us and your willingness to innovate the workplace with us.

    We hope you enjoy our selection! Happy reading!