According to Clarence

“Bring Dat College Home”

Clarence Brown — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:13:05 +0000

What’s Your Legacy

Clarence Brown — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:05:17 +0000

Management Moment 6-16

Clarence Brown — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:48:33 +0000

Management Moment 6-09-10

Clarence Brown — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:29:45 +0000

Management Moment 6-02-10

Clarence Brown — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:02:31 +0000

Weekly Blog 5-26-10

Clarence Brown — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:57:53 +0000

Management Moment #2

Clarence Brown — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:32:22 +0000

“People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

John Maxwell

In a professional environment it is easy for mid-level and front-line managers to get caught up in the everyday activities of task completion, and ignore the fact that they have a greater purpose for being in their position. Not only should managers be concerned with productivity and the “bottom line”, but it is also important to remember the human resource factor. Unlike task, employees bring several unknown variables to the workplace. These unknowns can be family problems, financial troubles, medical issues, or a plethora of other environmental stresses. As liaisons between the resources and the goal, it is important that the manager becomes the consistency in the relationship.

In the process of pursuing task completion, the manager should periodically engage their workforce to gauge their current frame of mind. If it is positive, the manager can spend some time (5-10 minutes) just discussing general work practices and how their attitude enhances their performance. If the mood is negative, the manager can spend some time on engaging the employee and being a listening ear or support system. The bottom line is that employees spend a large amount of their waking hours coming to work, being at work, or leaving work, and as such we have an inordinate amount of influence over their time. Let’s utilize that time to develop them personally and professionally.

Suggested Acton Item: Adopt an employee

Take the time to choose one employee under your supervision to mentor. Make it your personal responsibility to grow their performance. In the process also be willing to receive lessons about yourself and your management style.

Clarence T. Brown, The Talking Bout, LLC

What is your Management Execution Style?

Clarence Brown — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:40:45 +0000

Execution: 5 archaic : effective or destructive action.

Merriam Webster Dictionary

Interestingly enough, most dictionaries would define execution as both a positive and negative noun. Oddly enough they both characterize management styles. As leaders in our companies and corporations, we stand in a unique position as executioners. Do we use this power to effectively develop our employees; taking into account that they have been placed under our tutelage not only to make them better, but also to improve our own skills? Or do we destructively tear down our direct reports when they do not meet our expectations?

One thing that I have recognized over the course of my career is that not enough time and effort is expended during our on-boarding process. Companies hire individuals based upon loosely defined criteria and place them in most cases, in an environment that is unlike what was discussed during the interview. At this point the employee is put into a position to either sink or swim. As overseers of this process, how do we as managers handle this situation? Do we help the employee to execute, or do we help to execute the employee? Which is your management style?

Clarence T. Brown, The Talking Bout, LLC

The New Year’s Revolution

Clarence Brown — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:56:13 +0000

Happy New Year. Here is a reprint from last year to get your decade started off the right way. It is as applicable now as it was last year. Please enjoy.

Now that we are a week into the New Year and many of us have had the opportunity to make and break our New Year’s resolution; I am here to offer some sound council. In an effort to improve our circumstances and have a better ’09 than our ’08, we set out making grandiose plans of what we would like to do with our lives. Many have rushed out and bought day planners, instituted time management principles, or etched out visions of how we want our year to progress. But how many of us have consulted the Master Planner?

If we have any hopes at all of having a successful transition from where we were, to where we should be going, we will have to accept one fact; the realization that there is a purpose for our existence. No matter how we feel about it, we do not exist to simply take up space; there is a calling on our lives. And if we are to ever truly transform into the person that we are seeking, we must embrace this calling. Diets, working out, organization and more personal time are mere teasers when it comes to getting a glimpse of our purpose.

We can take classes, join clubs and organizations, change the people we spend time with, or meditate alone; but it will not do us any good if it is not aligned with the Lord’s purpose for our lives. Because in the end, it is only His purpose and plans that will come to fruition. So before we start down the paths that we have spent so much time creating, let’s stop and consult our Maker to insure it is in the direction He has purposed for us to go.

Integrity - Truth of stance no matter the circumstance

Clarence Brown — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:46:01 +0000

This is the best definition I have ever seen for the word. Webster’s dictionary uses words like incorruptibility, soundness, and completeness; but they just don’t drive the meaning home for me. Integrity brings with it the connotation of having a sound foundation, able to hold up under the harshest of pressures; even its own.

Who are you and what are you about? Is the word integrity synonymous with your name and character? Why or why not? Can people say of you that no matter what situations you find yourself in, you are infallible? Can you stand firm on truth, despite the pressures you find yourself under? Can you be honest with yourself, when only you are the person to whom you have to answer?

Integrity is not one of those characteristics that will win you popularity contest, but it will bring you comfort if and when you find yourself alone. And eventually as people are able to see that in spite of what goes on around you, you are consistent, you are a person of your word, and fears do not dictate your actions, they will respect you. Then what you will find is that where there is respect, there is admiration; and admiration is far more genuine than placation.

My challenge for you today is to examine yourself, examine your motives, and examine your word. Are you a person of integrity? If so, those around you already know. If you have a challenge in this area, work on it quietly in secret; and what you will find is that as your truth of stance improves, so will your relationships.

“I’m just talking bout, what I’m talking bout”