S.M.A.R.T. Business Published Articles

If you’re a talker, here are five things you will want to do to give others time to express themselves.

By setting daily intentions and following through, you ensure that you have clear, purposeful objectives directly linked to your goal, helping you become more motivated to stay on track.

It infiltrates the workplace like a firestorm, fanning the flames of manipulation intended to make team members question their own reality. This fire must be put out before it spreads.

In an interview with Go Solo, author and leadership coach Brian Smith shares some of his experience as a business owner and offers tips to aspiring business owners.

Narcissistic leaders’ self-centered personalities not only disrupt organizational culture, but they can also derail an organization and leave it unviable.

In an interview with Brilliant Reads, author Mary Griffin discusses her background, working with IA Business Advisors, values, and her beliefs of success.

To avoid burnout when working from home, make a point to develop healthy habits and boundaries – and commit to them. Prioritize yourself and your well-being to achieve a satisfying work/life balance.

Studies on the effects and processes for achieving goals show that setting intentions in advance and implementing them as steps toward achieving your goals can greatly enhance the ability to attain them.

“How do you affect change when people continue to make the same mistakes over and over?”

Increasingly, immediate gratification is the way of the world, yet leaders would be remiss to forget the most important leadership strategy: slowing down.

Leaders must understand that each employee’s individual contribution to a team leads to the end result, which would be impossible to achieve without them.

One of the most common questions my clients ask me is how I keep my teams so positive. Culture is unique to each organization, and culture is people. 

To hold individuals accountable, they must first understand what’s expected of them. Expectations require being specific in a way that’s measurable and attainable in a realistic and timely setting. 

Everywhere we look, we find evidence that our country is becoming less emotionally intelligent. Log onto any social media site or watch the news to witness this degradation.

Clear and direct communication is a leader’s greatest asset. Yet leaders can only exert a positive influence if they have the ability to manage the multiple forms of communication needed.

Leaders understand that it’s not the control they have over others that makes them successful, but it’s their ability to positively influence others to accomplish goals and develop as human beings.

Organizations who wish to build high-performing teams – ones that easily collaborate, innovate, empower, and inspire each other to achieve unified goals – must commit to hiring the right employees, laying a foundation of trust, and providing proper training.

Leaving untenable business situations with poise and composure helps from tarnishing one’s business reputation

1) Be open and available

2) Have empathy

3) Find a friend

4) Make a plan

5) Take care of yourself

Advice that is given, unsolicited and unpaid for, can be misleading. Sifting through this bombardment of advice can be difficult but becomes easier when using a trusted mentor.

Communication involving holding someone accountable or offering constructive criticism is always best delivered verbally, not digitally.

While there is some truth in that, it is also true that to be a good leader, you have to be your best self, which means focusing at least some of your energy on yourself.

Your position as a leader requires more than just keeping your team on track for your company’s goals. You should also strive to empower your employees to stay on track for their personal goals.

Finding the best employee for the position starts by doing your due diligence to understand the influence this new person is going to have on the company, and vice versa.

We are all subject to fake news, daily, and must decipher what is truth and what is lies. This can become an issue for more than just us as humans, it can devastate entire companies

As a human, your influence is your single biggest responsibility on earth. If you are confused as to what your individual influence is, you need to understand your foundation and who you are inside and out.

We also notice that providers who are members of trade organizations are more receptive to discussions about different solutions they use in remediation of the issues they face.

A critical component of being an effective real estate sales representative is having strong communication skills—and that involves much more than being personable with clients.

In an interview with Ashley Graber, Brian Smith discusses the benefits of slowing down and how that may be difficult with TIADD (technology induced attention deficit disorder).

If you are considering starting a business, it’s important that you develop a plan. Without a plan, there is no way to gauge progress or efficiency. You must begin with the end in mind.

We use contrasting parts of our brains to complete different tasks. When one part of our brain is focused on one specific task, the other parts of our brain are, essentially, muted.

The biggest difference between individuals who consider themselves a boss and ones who consider themselves a leader is that a leader sets examples through action.

Regardless of your past or present circumstances, you are an important individual and have the opportunity to better yourself to be a positive influence.

We believe that the best way to influence your team is to first be the best you can be for yourself. To accomplish this in today’s technologically driven world, you need to understand yourself and the influence the outside world has on you.