leadership Archives

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Are You Holding Everyone Back?

Are You Holding Everyone Back? Issue 53: April 28, 2022 Some people are quick processors, others way slower. Some people are decisive, others less so. Some people thrive on structure, others won’t be boxed in. And some people are planners, others can’t be bothered. We all know the types: Planners get to the airport hours before the flight; their nemeses are always running to the gate. What happens when key members of a team don’t process quickly enough, are indecisive,…

Kevin Novak

April 27, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Transitioning, Under Pressure … or Voluntarily

Transitioning, Under Pressure … or Voluntarily Issue 52: April 21, 2022 Does this sound familiar? You have spent most of your professional life perfecting who you are and have chosen to become. It’s a significant investment to fine-tune a life that conforms to your beliefs, hopes and dreams. Then wham! You have become marginal, or even worse, irrelevant. Suddenly (although it was gradual in coming if you had been paying attention) you have to reinvent yourself. This turning point is…

Kevin Novak

April 20, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Why Do We Struggle with White Space?

Why Do We Struggle with White Space? Issue 51: April 14, 2022 Here’s an existential question: How do you fill an empty/white space? Spoiler alert: First, ask yourself is it worth filling? Second, is what you’re filling it with valuable, relevant and meaningful? Lastly, don’t hold back if you’re worried whether the full space is going to be accepted by others or will we be ridiculed and sequestered to the back of the room. Too often our default behaviors kick…

Kevin Novak

April 13, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Do You Measure by Outputs or Outcomes?

Do You Measure by Outputs or Outcomes? Issue 48: March 24, 2022 How do you and your organization measure accomplishments and achievements? In an Industrial Age mindset, output was believed to be the only measure as maximizing production efficiency became something close to a religious mantra. In today’s Knowledge Age era, outcome, actually accomplishing a strategy or goal is the real measure that determines outcome not output. In a marketplace that values what an organization stands for and its effect…

Kevin Novak

March 23, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Complicated Conversations: How to Have Them – 2040’s Ideas and Innovations

How to Have a Complicated Conversation Issue 47: March 17, 2022 How many recent conversations at work or in your personal life have been complicated? Everyone is anxious about the war in Ukraine, the unjust actions on its people and the unprovoked war’s effects on our country and the world. This new source of anxiety adds to our stress levels in navigating a return to some level of what was normal pre-pandemic. The global situation has also thrust us into…

Kevin Novak

March 16, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Role Playing

Role Playing Issue 45: March 3, 2022 We have written over the past year highlighting the necessity of recognizing the many roles we play, whether the roles are assigned or expected. Human beings can appear to be many different people throughout the day dependent on the situation or environment. We assume different roles depending on the situation at hand, although our core values don’t change. These roles may blur from time to time, but it is critically important to recognize…

Kevin Novak

March 3, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Workforce Reset

Workforce Reset Issue 44: February 24, 2022 The workforce is changing in real-time in terms of how employees want to be recognized, valued, and supported – and how employers are responding. Much has been written about the headlines Gen Zs are making regarding work, but the shifts taking place are not restricted to only one generation in our six-generation workforce. In parallel to employee demands, there are some sea changes that are worth noting that are subtly reshaping how we…

Kevin Novak

February 24, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: The Power of Positive … and Negative Thinking

The Power of Positive … and Negative Thinking Issue 43: February 17, 2022 What have we been told since kindergarten? Believe in the power of positive thinking! For many, positive thinking is an intuitive attitude reflected in a state of mind and behavior. The optimists, who are inclined to be hopeful and expect good outcomes, live this credo daily. Wake up with positive thoughts and positive outcomes will result. The skeptics, who are inclined to doubt or question any belief…

Kevin Novak

February 16, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: How Do You Trust?

How Do You Trust? Issue 42: February 10, 2022 Everyone is talking about who or what to trust, particularly in today’s fractious public discourse. When we decide to trust, we have aligned with and formed an understanding, correlation, and interpretation of the meaning of that trust. We then apply what has been communicated, shared, and internalized to our own beliefs, values, and knowledge … and take actions based on that trust. In Ourselves We Trust Where do we end up…

Kevin Novak

February 9, 2022

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

2040’s Ideas and Innovations: Inflation + True Value

Inflation + True Value Issue 41: February 3, 2022 This is the first time since 1982 that inflation has grown at such a fast pace and become such an urgent short-term issue for so many organizations and individuals around the world. It is clearly affecting consumers forcing them to make fundamental changes in their choices and their overall lifestyles. The consumer who is now having to be more discerning about their own expenses contributes to a set of challenges faced…

Kevin Novak

February 3, 2022

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