We reached out to other businesspeople to see what products and tools have helped them stay at the top of their work game. Here’s what they shared:

1. Customized learning

You never want to go stagnant on learning new skills, so options like MasterClass at Work are a great way to customize education for your teams or organizations. The online platform offers classes on topics like leadership, personal development, creativity and communication, all taught by industry leaders. Lessons can be customized to meet team goals so you can improve employee engagement and retention. Prices start at $10 per month for one device; contact the company for group rates.

2. Tests with personality

Remember when the Enneagram was all the rage a few years back? It had a way of helping you gain insight into your own personality while helping others understand you at the same time. While personality typing isn’t new, tests from Personality.co can still help teams function better by allowing them to understand their colleagues more fully. The monthly plan is $30 for one person; contact the company for group rates.

3. Embrace your creativity more efficiently

Need a professional-looking graphic but limited on time? Canva Pro can help you create eye-catching designs quickly and provides access to high-quality content, design tools and AI. This resource is a go-to for those hoping to produce outstanding designs without all the complicated software. The platform can be leveraged for social posts, slideshows and more. This premium app costs $120 per year for one person, but also offers a free version with limited features.

“During one campaign, we used Canva to make 30 social media images that looked good together in less than three hours,” says Jake Ward, online marketing professional and founder of Kleo, a free browser extension for consuming and creating content on LinkedIn. “This saved us almost 40% on design costs.”

4. An integrated business platform

HubSpot is an AI-powered platform that helps businesses focus on their customers. It has software, integrations and resources to connect your marketing, sales, customer service and other teams. Each team can see the same unified view of the customer at all stages of their journey, which saves time, thanks to streamlined processes and automation. There’s a free version of the platform, but the paid version(s) range from $15 to $3,600 per month, depending on how many seats you buy and the types of software you choose.

“I can see in real time how campaigns are doing, where leads are in the pipeline and what is truly generating conversions instead of having to manually track every interaction or transfer between platforms,” says Arthur Favier, founder and CEO of Oppizi, a startup that digitizes offline marketing. “Making data-driven decisions has always been more difficult in offline marketing, so that kind of clarity is quite helpful.”

5. Conquer social media posting schedules

Social media might be the necessary evil of the business world, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Products like Buffer can help you create content and schedule it on popular platforms like Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. The platform also helps you respond to comments quickly and understand analytics related to your socials. The free version gives you 10 scheduled posts per channel per month. The paid versions cost $5 (for one person) or $10 (for a team) monthly and give you unlimited posts.

“Using Buffer’s reporting features, we analyzed audience activity patterns and optimized posting times across three different industries,” says Ward. “This data-driven approach resulted in a 35% boost in click-through rates and a 12% increase in conversions over three months.”

6. A better way to collate your reading list

You meant to read that article later. But where did you save it? Matter is a content aggregation app that pulls together multiple articles, podcast episodes and videos into an aesthetically pleasing and accessible format. You can even have your newsletters sent straight to the app. 

There’s a free version, but the paid version ($8 per month or $60 per year) offers extra features, like transcribing podcast episodes.

7. Say thank you with style

In the digital world, a handwritten note from your company can really stand out. Handwrytten can send notes in calligraphic fonts to clients four or more times a year on stationery or on cards bearing your logo. The platform can integrate with productivity tools like Salesforce and Hubspot. Many price points are available, including $3.25 for one card and $373 per month for 100 cards.

Photo by Vadym Pastukh/iStock.com

The post 7 Productivity Tools to Help You Work Smarter appeared first on SUCCESS.

That’s where the DISC assessment comes in—it’s a personal development tool that helps individuals determine their communication style and how they interact with others. You take the DISC assessment to determine where your communication style falls into the four categories: Dominance (D), Influence (I), Steadiness (S) and Conscientiousness (C). 

This article will explain the different DISC personalities along with the strengths and weaknesses of DISC communication styles. By tailoring your communication based on your DISC style, you can become a more effective, empathetic and confident team leader. 

Dominant (D) personality: Leadership and Communication Style

If you thrive on challenges and are extremely goal-oriented, it’s likely that your DISC leadership style is Dominant (D). Dominant leaders value efficiency and results. They don’t want to hear the reasons behind something; they just want to know what actions should be taken. 

Communication Challenges

This leadership communication style can be helpful when decisions need to be made quickly. They are natural problem solvers, able to see the big picture and make decisions accordingly. 

However, Dominant leaders may appear abrupt, uncaring or impatient when communicating with their team. Sometimes people need to be heard, and that requires active listening. If people feel like their opinions are being ignored or brushed over, they may not feel appreciated. Work performance can suffer as a result.

Leadership Tips

Here are some ways leaders with a Dominant DISC communication style can improve their interactions: 

• Listen without interrupting – People tend to feel valued when they are able to express their thoughts, and that requires the other person to be an active listener. 
• Pause before responding – Think not only about how you want to respond, but also how that response might be received. Dominant communicators sometimes come off as aggressive, and a softer response could benefit the other party. 
• Acknowledge the person’s feelings – Showing empathy can improve morale. 
• Share decision-making – Involving other team members in the decision-making process instead of making a unilateral decision can increase engagement. 

Influential (I) Personality: Leadership and Communication Style

Leaders with the Influential (I) DISC assessment leadership style tend to be approachable and engaging. People generally enjoy being around them, as they bring a contagious optimism to the table. An Influential leader often praises hard work and good ideas and creates a positive team environment. 

Communication Challenges

Influential leaders are typically big-picture thinkers. This is a positive, but it can also be challenging. For example, it could pose an issue in a meeting if the discussion veers off-topic and the focus is lost. Follow-through can be lacking, leaving the team wondering how to navigate future tasks or what next steps to take. There can also be a lack of decision-making. 

Leadership Tips

Here are some ways leaders with an Influential style can work to improve their communication:

• Stay focused – Establish a goal and focus on conversations that support the goal, tabling side conversations for another time. 
• Manage time wisely – This goes hand-in-hand with focus. Team members may not look forward to lengthy meetings that don’t lead to specific plans or actions. Leaders should show that they value their team members’ time and focus meetings accordingly. 
• Set clear expectations – Influential leaders can be motivating, but also leave others not sure where to go next. Clear expectations need to be set, especially when improvement is needed. 
• Create space for everyone – It’s easy for a charismatic leader to dominate the workspace. This type of leader needs to make sure even the more reserved team members have the opportunity to contribute. 

Steady (S) Personality: Leadership and Communication Style

While Influential leaders can have big, enthusiastic personalities, Steady (S) personality types tend to be calm and dependable. You generally won’t see them making big, boastful statements, but rather, quietly supporting their team with less fanfare. They may have strong opinions, but you won’t often see them making hasty decisions. 

Communication Challenges

The main challenge of the Steady communication style for leaders is that they often have difficulty with conflict and lack the ability to assert themselves. Team members might feel that the Steady leader is supporting their idea, but silence does not always equate with support. 

Leadership Tips

Steady leaders can work on these skills to improve communication: 

• Practice assertiveness – A leader who values harmony over all else may have a difficult time when they need to speak up. Team members often need a leader who can make clear decisions. 
• Speak up with confidence – The feeling of not wanting to rock the boat can be strong in this personality type. Steady leaders should work on voicing their opinions and not backing down to louder personality types. 
• Be direct – Don’t beat around the bush to stay on someone’s good side. Clarity is important. 
• Say no – It’s easy to get burned out when you are always saying “yes.” Practice saying “no” when the stakes are lower to build the skill. 

Conscientious (C) Personality: Leadership and Communication Style

The final DISC personality is Conscientious (C), which refers to a leader who tends to be detail-oriented, thorough and analytical. This type of leader usually holds team members and themself to a high standard. They are strong when it comes to setting up systems and solving complex problems. 

Communication Challenges

Team members may perceive this type of leader to be impersonal and uncaring. They might also feel that the work they do is never good enough, since praise is rarely given. This type of leader can get caught up in the details, making decision-making a challenge. 

Leadership Tips

Conscientious leaders can work on these skills: 

• Be more flexible – Rigidity can be hard to deal with. Leaders can learn to adapt to change even when it might be uncomfortable. 
• Keep perfectionist tendencies in check – It can be hard to accomplish a goal if the only way to get there is through perfect execution. 
• Praise others – Nobody wants to only hear about their faults. It’s important for leaders to acknowledge work well done and praise people for their success. 
• Make quicker decisions – Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Make a decision and move forward. 

Leading With Intention

Leadership communication styles can differ. Yet leaders can also adapt to best meet their team’s needs. A leader with a strong vision can be lost if they cannot effectively communicate that vision to their team. 

The DISC personality assessment helps leaders understand their own communication style and how it impacts others. Whether you are a goal-oriented D, an approachable I, a dependable S or a detail-oriented C, learning your strengths and weaknesses can help you become a better leader. Practicing the tips for your personality type is the first step in the right direction.

Photo courtesy of PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

The post Common Communication and Leadership Challenges for Each DISC Personality appeared first on SUCCESS.

Those three words sound simple enough, but when I look at the six Lego pieces in front of me—two square, one with an eye, another rectangular and two flat red pieces—I pause. How could I make a duck out of these seemingly irrelevant shapes? And then, I think to myself, “What would Salvador Dalí do?”

The question wasn’t completely out of left field. I was, after all, sitting in The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, joining about a dozen other professionals in “Introduction to Creative Thinking,” one of the courses hosted by Innovation Labs at The Dalí Museum. Led by Kimberly Macuare, director of education and co-director of Innovation Labs, we were on a mutual quest, seeking inspiration from the surrealist that we could take back to our places of work.

Dalí in the business world

Unsurprisingly, the idea of the Innovation Labs came from Dalí himself.

“Hank Hine, the executive director of The Dalí Museum and the founder and co-director of the Innovation Labs at The Dalí, very early on saw the potential in the way that Dalí approached problem-solving, how he approached looking at the world, both in terms of understanding things that other people didn’t seem to understand because he was looking at it through different eyes, and then his ability to just take off the brakes in terms of what might be possible solutions for anything that he was thinking about,” Macuare says. “And that could have been from creating another masterpiece to he once sat down and spent an hour thinking about what were all the ways that he could use a gift that he had been given of a whale vertebra.

“As soon as Hank was thinking in this vein, it was really clear to him right away how this might have applications in a business context,” she adds.

And it’s not only Hine who believes creative thinking can benefit the business world. In its 2023 Future of Jobs Report, the World Economic Forum cited creative thinking as one of the top 10 skills on the rise, increasing in importance between 2023 and 2027.

Inspired by Salvador Dalí’s wild imagination, mastery of illusion and perception, the Innovation Labs are designed to open participants’ eyes and imaginations, pushing the limits of their creativity. During the sessions, the program’s expert facilitators lead attendees through unexpected training exercises that both expand their minds and develop talent in new and exciting directions. 

This one-of-a-kind program carefully combines more than 60 years of research on creativity and creative problem-solving with a generous dash of Dalí’s philosophy and methods to help businesses see the world in new ways.

Throughout the five-hour course, Macuare led our group through conversations and activities that challenged our ways of thinking, encouraging us to get as far out of the box as Dalí. She walked us through one way to rethink, well, the way we think—her five secrets of the creative process, which she gleaned from Dalí’s 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship:

1. Setting the scene: You must prepare the ground for creativity
2. On the Cloud game: Recognize that seeing is a generative act
3. Multiple perspectives: Value of connecting the dots
4. Cultivate curiosity: Ask questions; look longer and pay more attention
5. Be yourself: What’s your mustache?

In essence, think like Dalí when he said, “Everything alters me, but nothing changes me.”

Going on a flânerie

After speaking at length about the artist’s Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko) and how viewers’ perceptions of the masterpiece change depending on their physical perspectives, Macuare broke us into small groups and asked us to go on a flânerie (a walk or wander guided by a random principle) through the galleries, just as Dalí and his contemporaries did during their time in Paris.

For our flânerie, we chose to focus on a color to find throughout the art, but found ourselves evolving our sightlines to find sets of three, which we realized were prevalent in Dalí’s works. That realization is one we may not have noticed if we hadn’t taken the time to really look.

“Kim is an expert at weaving personal and professional development skills with art history and art,” says Beth Miller, Ph.D., executive director at the Creative Education Foundation. Miller brought Macuare in to kick off the Florida Creativity Conference. “Innovation Labs present a lively and interactive way to experience The Dalí that provides meaningful self-reflection while cultivating interpersonal skills and development. Forging meaningful connections between the arts and skills development illustrates how art can both inspire and activate understanding and implementation of new skills.”

Gathered back together, and thinking with a Dalí mindset, Macuare walked us through FourSight, a problem-solving system that encourages teams to think creatively and work collaboratively to find innovative solutions to complex challenges. According to research shared by FourSight, solving a complex problem requires four types of thinking: clarifying, ideating, developing and implementing. Essentially, everyone is capable of all four types, we just have preferences as to the type of thinking we enjoy.

About a week before our session, we were asked to complete some homework, a questionnaire about how we work best. Looking at my FourSight results, I wasn’t surprised to learn that I’m an implementer—I’m all about getting things done—with a fairly neutral reading across the other three types. Learning about the other ways of thinking, and the way we can all collaborate, was informative and beneficial, and gave me better insights on how to be a stronger team player, in both my work and personal lives.

Like Miller says, “The Innovation Lab inspires and activates personal and professional development.”

In addition to “Introduction to Creative Thinking,” the Innovation Labs also offers courses like, “Introduction to Creative Problem-Solving,” “Saving the World From Chaos: Advanced Strategies for Creative Thinking & Problem-Solving” and “The Secret Life of Your Organization,” which are customized to meet businesses’ specific needs.

Back to my duck. After a moment’s pause, I shifted into a Dalí state of mind and started to build.

I think I would have made the surrealist proud.

Photo courtesy of The Dalí Museum

The post Getting Creative at Work With Salvador Dalí appeared first on SUCCESS.

The modern-day shift from in-person coffee meetings to Zoom calls and LinkedIn DMs enhances traditional networking by breaking down barriers to time, geographic location and access. The flexibility of digital networking allows professionals to cultivate partnerships with peers, industry leaders and potential mentors around the globe.

These days, digital networking options are no longer “nice to have.” The future of professional networking is digital, and mastering it is essential to effectively network for career advancement. This article dives into where and how to network and offers online networking tips to help you successfully build your community.

The New Rules of Networking in a Remote World & Building Trust Online

Historically, much networking for business over the last century has occurred in person at conferences, seminars and social events. With the uptick of remote work and the growth of social media, however, there are currently more opportunities for digital networking. 

Traditional and digital networking both result in strong relationships, and meaningful connections still drive opportunity. But, to thrive in digital networking, the mindset must shift to be more proactive, helpful and authentic. Digital networking is more than just showing up. You’ll find the most success when you seek connections based on similar interests and provide value to others. 

Quick Tip: Learn the basics of networking and then tailor your approaches to digital platforms. Many of the core concepts of networking apply to its virtual counterpart in a slightly different way. 

Where to Network Online: Digital Networking Platforms and Virtual Events

Leverage platforms like LinkedIn, Slack, X (formerly Twitter), industry forums and virtual networking events to expand and maintain connections. They’re all powerful tools for using social media to professionally and network online. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the gold standard for digital networking for career success and a great place for building online relationships and establishing yourself as a leader in your field. It’s more than a digital resume. Through engagement, LinkedIn lets you control how you are perceived professionally in the digital world.

X

On X (formerly Twitter), share opinions and insights on trending issues to also establish yourself as an industry leader. Online networking strategies include hosting a “Q&A” or an “Ask me Anything” to meet people in your industry and share expertise. 

Slack and Discord

Slack and Discord communities are niche, tight-knit groups. For example, in marketing, Top of the Funnel (TOFU) is a free Slack Content Marketing and SEO community offering the chance to chat with others in the industry, find work opportunities and get actionable advice from fellow content marketers. Other Slack groups, like DevChat and Women in Technology are also great places to learn from experts, share ideas and ask questions that align with your professional interests or industry.

Virtual Events  

Over the past few years, more organizations are offering opportunities for networking at virtual events, such as webinars, online conferences and industry-specific forums. This lets interested parties save money on travel expenses, attend more events and potentially connect with professionals around the world—all from the comfort of their own desk. If you’re wondering where to find virtual events like conferences and webinars for professional networking online, consider these ideas: 

• Check announcements on LinkedIn social media from industry-specific groups about upcoming virtual events. 
• Join professional associations for your industry and ask about what events they may sponsor or be connected with. 
• Join email lists or subscribe to newsletters for experts or groups in your field to get notified about potential events. 
• Browse company websites for free webinars or digital job fairs. 

Reaching out to mentors is another idea for discovering virtual networking tips and events.

How to Use LinkedIn for Networking and Building a Strong Online Presence

Getting started or getting more involved on LinkedIn can take a little effort, but it goes a long way. LinkedIn networking strategies start with a strong presence, providing value to others and building authentic connections. 

Create a Strong Profile 

Optimize your LinkedIn profile to align with your business goals by including a professional headshot and clearly stating your title, experience and skills in your headline and summary. Add accomplishments and quantifiable achievements and incorporate relevant keywords to help others find you in online search results. You can also collect online recommendations from co-workers and/or managers to help improve your credibility. 

Start Sharing Content and Position Yourself as a Resource

Next, after your profile is complete and professional, share relevant content to highlight your interests and expertise and position yourself as a resource. Content might include presentations, recently written articles, relevant news or how-to guides—anything helpful. For example, posting a story about overcoming an obstacle at work, followed by the lesson learned, might help others in similar situations and encourage engagement. 

Interact Meaningfully with Others 

Similarly, comment meaningfully on others’ posts. You can also join communities on digital networking platforms to meet like-minded professionals. Simply put, the goal of LinkedIn digital networking strategies is to connect and provide value. When you do this, you’ll gain trust and begin building business relationships online. 

Virtual Icebreakers and Making Meaningful Connections Online

From figuring out how to find connections to coming up with virtual coffee chat ideas, there’s plenty to navigate when networking in a digital world. Use these tips to ease the stress and get started.  

Start Looking for Connections 

To start, find people you have connections to. This includes friends, colleagues and people with similar professional interests. Consider volunteer groups or interests you have. You can also utilize the LinkedIn Alumni tool to find people you went to college with.

Create a Good Elevator Pitch and Personalize Connections 

Next, craft your elevator pitch. Keep it concise and professional. Personalizing connection requests and intro DMs is your secret weapon. Introduce yourself and use virtual icebreakers. Be curious. Ask about a current project they’re working on or an article they’ve written. This makes a warm first impression and helps digital relationship-building efforts. 

Stay Connected and Start Building Relationships 

After establishing a new connection, master the art of follow-up with the intent to solidify and maintain your relationships. Stay in touch and engage with their posts to grow long-term relationships. Did someone just announce a career milestone or get a new job? Congratulate them. Even better, use video or voice notes when appropriate to stand out. You can also offer a resource or ask for a quick virtual coffee chat call. 

Quick Tip: Some people utilize digital business cards to help them make an impression and share information with others when doing professional networking online. Depending on your needs, it could be a helpful tool to consider. 

Nurturing and Sustaining Relationships Online Through Virtual Networking

This should go without saying, but don’t ghost your network. Consistent engagement on online digital platforms is more important than volume. Celebrate each other’s wins and take the time to post thoughtful comments and personalized messages. Also, be of service. Share job leads, recommend tools and make introductions to fellow peers. 

To close the gap between digital and in-person interactions, schedule virtual catch-ups or async video and audio meetings. Seeing someone’s face and hearing someone’s voice makes the connection feel a little bit more personal.

You may also consider working small networking practices (also known as micro-networking) into your daily routine. For example, check your networks for updates and like or comment on posts while you’re having your morning coffee. Small, consistent actions could make it easier to stick to the habit of staying connected to your network.

The Long-Term Value of Building Trust and Intentional Digital Networking

When digital networking is used well, it can lead to meaningful, long-lasting relationships, professional growth and career opportunities that may never have existed offline.

Start growing your network and developing digital relationships now. Don’t wait until you need it. To start, take one small step–comment on a post, reach out to someone or join a new community. 

Photo by Nattakorn_Maneerat/Shutterstock.

The post How to Build Meaningful Connections Through Digital Networking appeared first on SUCCESS.

This desire for sustainability isn’t just about reducing your carbon footprint or recycling. Sustainability in business is about creating a long-lasting and positive impact on the environment, economy and society as a whole. 

Sustainability within a business begins with its leadership, embracing practices that foster long-term success by making ethical decisions, focusing on innovation and growing the business responsibly. It also means doing so without overlooking diversity, climate change and the community’s overall well-being.

As more companies are making the shift towards sustainability, adopting eco-friendly business practices is a practice well worth considering. Let’s explore what sustainable leadership is, its benefits and simple strategies to make it effective in your business. 

What Is Sustainable Leadership?

Sustainable leadership is an approach that emphasizes long-term value for all, including employees, stakeholders, customers, the community and the environment. A sustainable leader finds ways to integrate eco-friendly practices into their organization’s core values, ensuring they are woven into business decisions. 

Unlike traditional leadership, which primarily focuses on profit, sustainable leadership balances the business’s financial success with its responsibility to society and the environment. At its core, it’s about driving business growth while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and society.

Shifting From Short-Term Profits to Long-Term Impacts 

Businesses often focus on immediate returns and short-term profits. However, this can come at the expense of long-term sustainability. A lack of long-term sustainable thinking could contribute to unsustainable growth, environmental degradation and the exploitation of workers. 

With the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability-driven consumer choices, the business landscape is shifting. Sustainable leaders recognize the importance of making decisions that will benefit future generations and have long-term impacts. Principles of sustainable leadership include:

• Environmental Stewardship: Taking responsibility and action to reduce a company’s carbon footprint and reduce depletion of the Earth’s natural resources. 
• Long-Term Value Creation: Building value over time by focusing on environmental, social and governance factors. 
• Social Responsibility: Prioritizing the welfare of employees and communities by promoting diversity, ensuring fair wages and supporting local economies. 

How Sustainable Leadership Contributes to Business Success

When leaders make sustainability a priority, it can contribute to business success and help companies with long-term growth. Let’s take a look at the potential benefits of sustainable leadership: 

Enhances Brand Reputation and Customer Loyalty

Consumers are making more purchasing decisions based on sustainable practices and some studies suggest that shoppers are seeking eco-friendly brands.  Leaders who recognize this can help businesses build trust and strengthen brand reputation by incorporating sustainability. Customers today are informed and selective with the brands they choose and support, so focusing on sustainability is more important than ever. 

Drives Innovation and Competitive Advantage

When business leaders practice sustainability, they can help drive innovation by encouraging employees to create green innovations, initiatives and ethical business models. This can be done through creating eco-friendly products, finding energy-efficient solutions or reducing waste. 

Businesses that emphasize sustainability are in a position to create a competitive advantage. They can do this in eco-friendly packaging, renewable energy, green supply chains and related areas. They’re also in a position to anticipate and prepare for environmental regulatory changes, which happen regularly across the globe. 

Increases Employee Engagement and Retention 

Implementing and maintaining sustainable practices can help increase employee engagement and retention, regardless of your business’s industry. Sustainable business leadership helps create a positive work environment while attracting and retaining top talent. 

Employees may be more likely to put forth their best effort and stay at companies that are purpose-driven and align with their personal values. Additionally, when leaders implement sustainable practices, it may help employees be more engaged and productive at work. 

Sustainable business leadership can also help foster a culture of transparency, accountability and inclusivity. These aspects can contribute to a strong company culture where employees feel good about their contributions and their working environment. 

Ensures Long-Term Profitability and Resilience 

Sustainability helps focus on long-term outcomes, not short-term profits. A strong ESG performance can help drive financial resilience, revenue growth and improved risk management in a business. 

Adopting sustainable practices can also help prepare a business for risks such as environmental disruptions, shifts in consumer behavior or regulatory changes.  

Related: 20 Best Sustainability Books for Entrepreneurs

Strategies for Becoming a Sustainable Leader

The importance of sustainable leadership is clear, but it isn’t something that happens overnight. Fortunately, there are key actions you can take to set your business up for success. 

Set Clear and Attainable Goals for Sustainability

As a leader, having clear and attainable goals is key. Defining distinct, measurable sustainability goals for yourself and your organization can help you be more successful. Ensure these goals align with your overall business strategy and cover areas such as: 

• Minimizing waste
• Reducing carbon emissions 
• Improving employee diversity and well-being 
• Enhancing supply chain transparency 

A sustainable leader also needs to make sure that their goals are realistic, actionable and measurable. Adopting ESG metrics to track your progress over time can help. If they’re not actionable, measurable and realistic, they can be more difficult to achieve. 

Lead by Example

When you make the transition to sustainable leadership, you want to ensure that you’re leading by example. This is s helpful way to encourage employees, stakeholders and consumers to participate in your green initiatives. 

If you’re committed to your eco-friendly practices and ethical decision-making, others will be more likely to follow your lead. Some ways that you can encourage sustainable habits include: 

• Supporting green initiatives, such as participating in local charity work 
• Reducing energy consumption in the workplace 
• Advocating for diversity and inclusion in company hiring practices 

Engage Your Stakeholders

Engaging the stakeholders of the company can help to ensure that sustainable initiatives are maintained. Consider creating sustainability-focused committees within different departments and at various levels so everyone can get involved. You can also host employee engagement programs and involve customers in eco-friendly challenges to make participation more fun. 

At the root of stakeholder engagement is transparency. No matter how well or poorly sustainable initiatives are doing, it’s important to remain transparent and regularly report on their performance with ESG disclosures so everyone can be held accountable. 

Measure and Report Your Progress

As a sustainable leader within a business, it’s important to regularly measure and report your progress. Doing this will help you see where you’re sustainability practices and initiatives are succeeding and where improvements could be made.

You can use tools like sustainability dashboards, ESG reporting and impact assessments to track your success and areas for improvement. These reports will also allow you to analyze the data and adjust your goals as needed to ensure that you’re making the most of your sustainable practices and doing what’s best for your business, community, employees and stakeholders. 

Leadership and Sustainable Development Go Hand-in-Hand   

Sustainable leadership isn’t just a trend in the business world; it’s the future. By incorporating sustainable business practices, starting at the top, companies can see a host of benefits. Companies implementing these strategies can foster employee engagement and retention, innovation and long-term profitability. 

Not only does it allow businesses to thrive in the long term, but it does so while contributing to a healthier planet and society. It’s a key to the success of a business that wants to position itself for future growth. 

Leaders who embrace sustainable practices can build stronger connections with their consumer base, retain and build engagement with employees and create lasting value for their stakeholders. Start today and future-proof your business in a way that protects the planet and the people. 

Photo by WHYFRAME/Shutterstock.

The post How Sustainable Leadership Drives Business Success & Strategies to Make It Happen  appeared first on SUCCESS.

While trusting others to accomplish goals sounds straightforward, micromanagement—the tendency to control every part of a task, project or enterprise—has serious setbacks. In the business world, it can slow company growth, discourage employees, lower job satisfaction and engagement, and cause frustrating situations for all parties involved (particularly the micromanager and the person being managed).

The impact of micromanagement

Penny Zenker—a tech entrepreneur turned business strategy coach, and an author and speaker on the psychology of productivity—calls herself a “recovering” micromanager. She’s witnessed the negative outcomes of micromanaging first hand.

“I was working with some CEOs who would come to me and say that their team wasn’t accountable, that they felt like there was a problem,” she says. “And to me, when the team is not showing accountability, it’s very often… that I find that the leader is micromanaging—so they’re actually taking the power away [from employees].”

The need for control, a fear of failure and a lack of trust in employees are all things that cause people to micromanage, which can decrease employee morale and accountability. Zenker adds that team members might also be less likely to speak up or share their ideas, and decisions that impact the business might be delayed.

“When you see people shutting down and not speaking up or bringing creativity,” she says, “that can also mean that they’re feeling like they’re unappreciated or overcontrolled.… Clearly, when people leave [a workplace], that can also be a telltale sign.”

Here are seven ways that leaders and project managers can learn to let go:

1. Shift your mindset

You should “delegate those outcomes, not just the tasks,” Zenker says. Focus on growing your team members’ skills sets and fueling their career growth instead of simply getting things done. 

“There’s really a greater purpose, which is to make them build their skill sets so that they can play a bigger role in the organization,” she adds. 

2. Trust your team

Some leaders have a hard time delegating tasks because they are “scared things won’t be done exactly how they would do them,” says Melissa Legere, licensed marriage and family therapist and chief operating officer and co-founder of California Behavioral Health. “If you micromanage every detail,” she continues, “your team won’t feel empowered to take ownership, and you’ll still be stuck in the weeds doing everything yourself.”

She adds that “delegation isn’t about cloning how you would approach tasks—it’s about getting the job done well. Set clear expectations, provide the necessary resources and then step back.”

3. Resist the urge to fix everything

According to Legere, once you assign a task, you should “let your team handle it without constantly jumping in to tweak [or] redo their work.” Tapping into team members’ skills and abilities not only allows you to focus on other tasks on your to-do list but also encourages them to develop problem-solving skills. 

“Instead of micromanaging, provide feedback and guidance when necessary and give them space to learn and grow,” she adds.

4. Start small and build from there

“If letting go feels uncomfortable, begin by delegating low-stakes tasks and work your way up,” Legere continues. “This helps you get used to trusting your team while giving them the chance to prove they can handle more responsibility. The more you see things getting done without your constant involvement, the easier it becomes to step back.”

5. Set checkpoints

By creating a physical checklist, you can monitor the quality and progress of the task or project you’ve delegated. 

Zenker notes that it’s important for managers to explain why what they’re asking of the employee or team member is important and what they want to accomplish. Then, give them space to ask questions—and depending on the project’s timeline, set times to check in. Managers shouldn’t check in too much, though, because that would be micromanaging.

“The next milestone might be for them to go and do some research and then come back with their own plan, so that you’re seeing how they think and how they work through things,” she says. “But you’re also setting up those checkpoints so that you don’t have to check in with them every day.”

6. Be kind

The language you use and the way you choose to approach the situation at hand is important, Zenker continues. Think about what energy you’re bringing to the table and try to be positive. Instead of barking orders, build in time to make a personal connection so people feel valued and understood.

“If you’re handing something over to them, maybe you’re telling them that you have full trust in their ability to complete this in the best way,” she says. “One of the things I do [is say,] ‘Hey, listen, I know that sometimes I have a tendency to get too involved or check in. Please call me on it.’”

7. Hit pause

If something isn’t working in your company, organization or life, you can always hit reset. Then, you can take time to step back and reflect on the challenges or your mistakes. 

The process of rethinking, reconnecting and reprioritizing can help individuals tackle their challenges and figure out how to be more productive. It even inspired Zenker to write a book called The Reset Mindset, which was published in fall 2024. “It’s in the reflection that we gain insight,“ she says, “not in experience, because we can repeat the same mistakes.”

This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine. Photo by voronaman/Shutterstock.com

The post Just Let Go: 7 Ways to Become a Better Delegator, not a Micromanager appeared first on SUCCESS.

What Makes A Good Presentation?

A strong presentation consists of several key elements, including clear messaging, effective visuals and confident delivery. It’s best to keep your core message simple and focused—too much information at once can be hard for your audience to track. Well-designed visuals like slides, charts or infographics can really help reinforce your points, as long as they’re clean, consistent and not overly complicated.

Delivery also plays a big role. Even the best content can fall flat if the presenter seems uncomfortable or unsure. Practicing ahead of time—whether with a friend or by recording yourself—can help you find a natural rhythm and smooth out any rough patches. Just taking a moment to breathe and pace yourself can go a long way toward helping your message land.

Tips for Creating a Great Presentation

Here are some general tips to consider while creating your presentation to ensure it’s straightforward, cohesive and easy to follow for your audience.

Be Clear and Concise 

To keep your presentation on message, focus on three to five main ideas. If you use slides or a PowerPoint presentation, limit your ideas so your audience can easily follow them.

Lorraine K. Lee, professional presence expert and author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career, suggests using only one idea per slide. “In work environments, [we often] get so excited by a project… that everything is important to us, but oftentimes your audience only cares about a small percentage of what you want to share.” She adds, “So many presenters craft their content based on their goals… The most impactful presentations will be those created based on what they know about their audience…. Make sure you understand [them].”

Create Visually Appealing Slides

Studies have shown that people remember visuals more than spoken information. “If you can replace text with a visual, do it,” advises Lee. Here are some additional tips and “things not to do” in a business presentation:

• Slides shouldn’t be used as a script—true mastery of your content is when you know what you’ll talk about next and don’t need what’s on the screen to guide you. An unprepared presenter is someone who is simply reading the text that’s on the screen.
• Highlight key points on slides rather than sharing a wall of text. If you do, your audience will focus on reading the text, not listening to you.
• Keep slides simple and uncluttered, and make sure your design theme is consistent and professional-looking (an easy task with tools such as Canva).
• Use charts and infographics to explain complex ideas and break up text.

Use the “Three P’s”

Presentation expert Kate Bishop emphasizes practicing what she calls “The Three P’s” before creating a presentation: 

Plan

“Understand the logistics,” Bishop recommends. Is the presentation to be held online or in person? What kind of tech will be used, and what kind of room will it be held in? Checking your tech beforehand is important to deal with any unexpected issues. Bishop also recommends removing barriers such as lecterns that might separate the speaker from their audience.

Lee concurs with Bishop on the importance of seeing the room where the presentation will be made beforehand. “Getting the feel of the room… [can] help minimize nerves by allowing you to familiarize yourself with the space.” 

Prepare

Bishop says it’s important to know not only the nuts and bolts of what you will say, but also to have a few stock answers ready for unexpected questions. She discusses being prepared for someone to talk over you or perhaps ask an out-of-the-blue question. For example,  if someone asks you an odd question, she suggests saying, “‘Gosh… I don’t have the answer, but I’ll find out,’ or ‘My initial thoughts are….’” If someone asks irrelevant questions, you can say, “That’s not relevant now, [but I’m] happy to talk to you outside of this forum.”

Practice 

Filming yourself with your phone beforehand can make you aware of your body language, fidgeting or nervous tics and mannerisms. “It’s really helpful to see how you are doing things [subconsciously],” says Bishop.

Tips for Delivering a Perfect Presentation 

If your goal is to learn how to give a perfect presentation, experts generally agree that the following advice is crucial.

Start Strong 

The best presentations have a strong opening. Lee suggests starting with a question to engage your audience right away. Some other compelling things to say in presentations at the start include the following:

• Asking your audience to think about a future situation or scenario, which primes them to think about the future change/state you want them to be in by the end of your presentation
• Stating a problem, then explaining how you will solve that problem to get their buy-in early on
• Telling a personal story or a surprising fact to capture their attention

Bishop believes that one of the biggest mistakes people make when giving a presentation is considering it a monologue rather than a dialogue. Try to foster a two-way exchange with your audience. A presentation should be an engaging, even entertaining, experience.

Establish Rapport 

To gain rapport with your audience as quickly as possible, be “fallible,” advises Bishop. “The best presenters I’ve seen are very human…. They lean into their mistakes. And I think humor is a great way to relax people…. As soon as you have the audience laughing along with you, they’re listening a lot more.”

Similarly, making eye contact with your audience is another one of the most important things you can do to establish rapport and gain trust early on.

Share Your Passion

Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are genuinely excited about the topic you are presenting on, your presentation will be more engaging. “Find the fun, find your why, your reason for being there,” advises Bishop. When you tap into your passion for your topic, says Bishop, your audience will become energized, too.

Manage Your Nerves

If you get anxious at the thought of public speaking, know that you’re not alone. “When we get up in front of a group of people, for most people… the flight or fight reaction will come in,” says Bishop. “[People] forget everything they were about to say, [or] they’re not thinking logically or clearly.”

Bishop recommends breathwork to help control nerves, specifically what she calls rectangular breathing, which involves looking at a screen. Rectangular breathing involves inhaling deeply up the short side of your screen through your nose, then a long exhale through your mouth and then repeating that for the remaining short and long sides of the screen.

Another tip to help build confidence is to take pauses so the audience can catch up with you. “We often rattle through things,” Bishop explains, “But taking a pause can help land your key messages.” She also recommends exercising before delivering a presentation—even if it’s just a short walk down the hallway. “[This helps] get rid of that cortisol,” she says.

Pay Attention to Your Gestures and Body Language

Your body language and gestures are key to your communication with your audience when making a presentation.

Use open body language (for example, don’t fold your arms across your chest, which could suggest defensiveness). Pay attention to your voice—vary your tone and pace to keep the audience interested. Try not to rush through your presentation.

Finish Strong

Just as important as a strong opening is having a strong finish. Summarize your key points succinctly and clearly, and don’t forget to provide a call to action. Do you want audience members to contact you for your services? Consider creating a handout summarizing your key points and giving them a way to contact you.

Present With Purpose

Remember that presentation skills are something you will be using for the rest of your life, so it’s worth investing in learning how to create effective, engaging ones. Key tips to remember include the following:

• Feeling nervous is normal. Remember to take deep breaths and practice relaxation techniques before you begin.
• The best weapon against nervousness is knowing you have created a great presentation with visually appealing slides to accompany your content. Plan and prepare extensively, and be confident that your audience will benefit from the knowledge and ideas you share.
• Remember that a good presentation is a dialogue, not a monologue. Be as engaging as possible, ask questions and, if possible, get feedback afterward so you can continue to improve.

Photo by PeopleImages/iStock.com

The post Top Tips on How to Make a Good Presentation appeared first on SUCCESS.

Since research shows that workers will stay longer at companies which invest in their growth, it’s a crucial topic for employers as well as employees. So, what are some strategies employees can exercise to be well-positioned for future leadership roles?

1. Strengthen the fundamentals

Before you talk to your boss about a leadership role, you want to make sure you’re in good stead at the company. “It’s critical not to forget the very basics of showing up on time, doing your job, doing it well and not gossiping,” says Jennifer Chang, a Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) with a decade of human resources experience. She advises that you cultivate a reputation for being consistently prepared, whether for meetings or just fulfilling daily work expectations.

Another key fundamental is to learn the key players in the company and what they do. This will help fine-tune your overall grasp of the business. Chang, who also serves as a human resources knowledge adviser at SHRM, says this ensures you’ll be ready to hit the ground running should you be tapped to fill a leadership role.

2. Act like a leader already

That old saying “dress for the position you want, not the position you have” is true, but it’s not the whole story, Chang says. “Beyond physical dress, you should present an image of leadership readiness… [Act] like you would want to act in a more senior role,” she says.

This means perfecting leadership traits like curiosity, proactiveness, strategic thinking, empathy and kindness, Chang notes. Practice owning your work, including the mistakes. “It’s critical to be able to say, ‘I messed up,’” she says. “Be honest and direct about it, rather than blaming or throwing people under the bus or hiding it.” It’s an opportunity to showcase problem-solving skills by demonstrating you can fix issues so they don’t happen again.

“Not only do you have to have the skills to manage a process or a team, but you also have to have the kindness and the empathy to engage with the workforce and manage their teammates,” she says.

3. Improve your visibility

“I think networking and volunteering are really critical,” Chang emphasizes. She suggests volunteering for in-person assignments, if possible, or choosing to work more frequently at the office, if you’re hybrid.

To stand out, look for projects that are cross-functional so you get to know other players within the organization. Requesting stretch assignments or offering to help others with tasks will also gain you ground, Chang says. Overall, be that person who asks their supervisor what the needs are to help the team function more seamlessly.

Despite the wealth of remote-enabling technology, think about going into the office more, if possible. “It’s good to see people in person,” Chang says, noting that it might be a good way to get face time with decision-makers. There’s also the likelihood of spontaneously doing lunch with others and catching up over coffee.

In contrast, building healthy work relationships remotely, though doable, requires intentionality. “It’s easy to get siloed in your own little world,” she says. If your job is 100% remote, volunteering for extra work and stretch assignments is definitely worthwhile to build up your reputation as a motivated employee.

4. Cultivate a positive relationship with your boss

In order to build rapport, ask your boss to have coffee or lunch with you—even if you feel intimidated. This demonstrates a willingness to boldly step out and engage with superiors, rather than sitting back, waiting to be drawn out, Chang says. After all, leaders want to see their employees engaged and interested.

To strategically leverage a coffee meetup with your boss, Chang says to show up with an opening complimentary nod to a recent work accomplishment of theirs before launching into three to five questions covering their career path and what excites them about the business. This casual time will create a positive impression and put you on your boss’s radar. When you’re looking to move up, it’s likely your intentional outreach will be remembered.

If you and your boss are in separate locations and not likely to meet in person soon, you can bring up these points in a regularly scheduled 1:1 meeting or request a meeting over Slack or email to catch up.

5. Have a direct conversation about a leadership role

If you’re excelling at work and demonstrating leadership qualities and yet your boss doesn’t recommend you for a leadership position (even after your meetup), it’s time to request a formal meeting to convey your interest.

Chang emphasizes that it’s OK to advocate for yourself and ask for what you want. Of course, having your work and character speak for itself is wonderful, but your boss might honestly think you’re content where you’re at. “It’s OK to say, ‘Hey, I’m interested in XYZ,’ or, ‘I’d like this opportunity,’” she says.

Chang advises to thoroughly prepare for this meeting to discuss a leadership role. Whether meeting in person or remotely, be sure to dress professionally and have an abundance of data points in your back pocket which highlight your workplace contributions. “Gather together a list of all of the accomplishments that you’ve had over your tenure with the company, all of the projects that you’ve contributed to and how they’ve improved efficiency,” she says, by way of example.

Show passion for the company and desire to take on more responsibility. Then, pivot to convey steps you’ve taken to gain leadership capabilities, she counsels. Using your prepared points, explain the various ways you’ve achieved success and benefited the company.

“Connect your career ambitions with contributions to the company and enthusiasm for the work they’re doing. I think that’s key,” she says.

This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine. Photo by Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com

The post How Can I Show My Employer I’m Ready to Be a Leader? appeared first on SUCCESS.

Former hostage negotiator George Kohlrieser witnessed this firsthand in his career, which has involved being held hostage, having scissors held to his throat, being shot at and having two knives drawn on him. “Thank God I’m alive, and that’s because of language. That’s because of words,” he says.

Kohlrieser used words intentionally throughout his first career and now uses them to teach communication skills to leaders, both as a distinguished professor at the International Institute for Management Development business school and as the author of Hostage at the Table. His experiences have taught him that communication skills are essential for advancing in life and business, creating success, building teams and not becoming a psychological hostage.

Here are seven tips from a former hostage negotiator on how to build trust, decrease conflict and develop communication skills that can help you negotiate advancement, build relationships and create success in your professional and personal life.

1. Observe others to communicate more effectively

Observation is an essential leadership skill that can help you pick up on nonverbal communication cues, understand others better and communicate from an informed place. Taking a few moments to observe your emotions before communicating can also help you address conflict internally and externally. 

Kohlrieser grew up on a farm and often watched his father and grandfather start conversations with anyone. “They would talk to people of different political persuasions, different ideas, and I grew up wanting to be a peacemaker [as a result],” he says. He started mediating at a young age, observing and asking himself questions about the people and situations around him. Through this, he observed effective communication.

When Kohlrieser grew up, he took his observations with him to college, first at the University of Dayton and then at The Ohio State University, where he received a doctorate in psychology and mediation. He then became a psychotherapist, focusing on violence and conflict management.

He was later hired as a hostage negotiator for the Dayton, Ohio, sheriff’s department and worked there for 10 years, which is where he was held hostage four times. Through this experience, Kohlrieser witnessed the power of effective communication and its connection to emotions and conflict.

“Emotions are such a part of conflict—it’s incredible. So that became my focus: conflict management,” Kohlrieser says. “I realized hostage negotiators are really good leaders…  because they influence. They don’t tell people that they have to give up their hostages, and they get a 95% success rate by the FBI measurements.… That’s a pretty good success record [for] not telling people what to do but giving them [a] choice.”

2. Create a bond, look for the pain point, and offer concessions

Kohlrieser uses this three-step framework to build trust, decrease conflict and negotiate anything:

1. Create a bond: Bonding creates an emotional attachment and a place where negotiation is possible, both professionally and personally. This is true “even if they’re an enemy, even if they’re an adversary,” Kohlrieser says.
2. Understand the pain point: To resolve conflict and enable negotiations, you also have to “talk about pain,” he says. “Happy people don’t take hostages. It’s people who have a grievance [who do this].”
3. Find a concession: According to Kohlrieser, concessions lead the way in finding hope.

“Through that three-step approach—bonding, looking for the pain point and being able to offer concessions and find hope—you get a 95% success rate,” he says.

3. Learn how to listen by paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is repeating what you heard in your own words. For example, you might say, “I understand that you’re saying this. It seems to me that you sound angry.” 

Learning to label emotions helps other people recognize when they’re experiencing an emotional trigger. Paraphrasing also helps them understand what they’re feeling and how you can help. Kohlrieser adds that showing interest in the other person tends to de-escalate them. 

Paraphrasing as part of effective communication demonstrates good leadership in a professional setting as well. For example, you might experience conflict with a coworker or tension with a manager in your workplace. In moments when emotions are running hot, taking the time to speak less, listen more and paraphrase what you heard can help you clarify misunderstandings and de-escalate tension.

4. Use your tone to your advantage

“Hostage negotiators go through a lot of training for voice,” Kohlrieser says. “[This includes] how to use… words, how to get out of a negative mindset, and how to be able to play, to win, or have a positive mindset to get into the right state.”

Your tone of voice plays a large role in communication. For instance, being intentional with your tone can de-escalate conflict in personal settings, such as when communicating with your children or partner. It can help in a professional setting as well, like when you’re speaking with coworkers or negotiating a promotion or business deal. 

Your tone can also show authority and help you lead when others are looking for guidance and feel unsure. Think through your tone in each conversation and adjust it accordingly to achieve your desired result.

5. Feel compassion and empathy for others

According to Kohlrieser, leaders should realize that people were not born a certain way. “Serial killers, as evil as [they are], are not born that way—they became that way because of what happened to them,” he says.

Kohlrieser advises exploring what happened to others so you can better understand them and the particular situations that shaped how they became the way they are. Doing so can help you become a better leader.

He adds that leaders become toxic because they focus so hard on the outcome that they forget how to lead people. Instead, results come from inspiring others and fully engaging with them from a place of compassion and empathy. 

6. Build trust

Humans are motivated and inspired by leaders they trust. As a leader, you should be a secure base for others—your employees need you to be reliable and trustworthy. This kind of trust depends on clear, direct communication.

“Leaders use terrible language,” Kohlrieser says. “[They] say the truth by being kind but respectful, but [they] put the fish on the table and go through the bloody, smelly mess of cleaning it for the great fish dinner at the end of the day. So many teams, so many leaders, beat around the bush [and] sugarcoat. They don’t say it directly.”

You can build more trust by speaking clearly, paraphrasing when you don’t understand someone, being intentional with your tone and always being honest, even when it’s hard. 

Building trust can also encourage others to give you more responsibility in the workplace or clients to trust you in a business setting. The result is more opportunities for growth because of the trust you’ve built by being honest and authentic.

7. Don’t let emotions sabotage your path to success

These skills can help you decrease conflict, negotiate what you want and become a strong leader, not a psychological hostage. Without them, “you can be[come] a psychological hostage… to externals, like bosses, colleagues, situations or [your] emotions,” Kohlrieser says. “You can be hostage to yourself.”

He adds that if you struggle with shame, guilt, grief or mental health, you need to find a way to get out of those states. A great place to begin is talking to a licensed professional. To get started, you can inquire about options for therapy or other mental health help with your employer’s HR department, search for mental health help online or ask for recommendations or referrals from someone you trust. 

You don’t have to battle emotions and mental health challenges in silence. In fact, addressing them can help you become a stronger leader.

Photo courtesy of George Kohlrieser

The post How to Negotiate Anything With George Kohlrieser appeared first on SUCCESS.

Rozen’s latest book, The 6% Club, digs into how we can create and achieve the goals that we set out to accomplish.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

SUCCESS+: What is the 6% club?

Michelle Rozen: I surveyed 1,000 people all over the U.S. It was January 2023, and they all had some kind of a goal—business, personal, money, relationship, health, anything. I said, “Let’s see what happens with those people over time.”

So I surveyed them from January to June, and what I found out literally made my jaw drop—because what I found was that 94% of the people that pledged to do something dropped whatever they pledged for by February. And so that’s how the 6% club was born.

S+: What is the 0–10 rule, and how can someone use it to help them become one of the 6%?

MR: The 0–10 rule basically means that in the span of your day, you have too much to do. But if you run into a 94-percenter, one of the things that you’ll hear is, “Oh my gosh, I’m so busy…. I’ve been running around the whole day, [and I] didn’t even have lunch.” But if you look into what they actually accomplish in a given day—if you have things to do on a span of 10 is the most important [thing], and two and three are the less important things—they do a whole lot of twos and threes. Because there’s not enough time in the day, they don’t even get to their 10s.

What you get is a whole lot of busy with very little progress. One of the things that is characteristic of the six-percenters is that they are very, very good at identifying what their 10s are for the day, and they’re going to get those 10s down, no matter what. The twos and threes? They’re going to delegate them.

S+: How did you develop the 0–10 rule?

MR: Originally I borrowed it from the world of psychology and adapted it to the world of decision-making and prioritizing. I used it on myself first, and it helped me figure out how to prioritize my time.

When I started working with top leadership teams, I started sharing that tool with them and developing it. They find it incredibly helpful because they have too many things to do and their teams have too many things to do. When I did the research on the 6%, I discovered that one of the things that characterizes 6-percenters is ruthless prioritizing, compared to the 94%.

S+: What’s the biggest difference between a good leader and a great leader?

MR: People skills—that’s the biggest shift that happened in leadership from 2020 until today. And it’s a struggle for a lot of people because leadership used to be very matrix-oriented, and now it’s very people-oriented. The bottom line is, if you’re not the kind of person that has excellent people skills—communication and coaching, things of that nature—you really need to work on it. They’re not skills that you can’t acquire, but they’re not optional. They’re mandatory for leaders today.

S+: How can leaders better grow and adapt to the inevitable yet necessary changes they see within their team or organization?

MR: The world changes very quickly. It’s a shift from the kind of person that says, “How do I adapt?”—which is more passive—to “How do I… not just adapt, but initiate change to things to make them more impactful and effective? Within the changing landscape, how do I better my ways as a leader? How do I become more effective? How do I fix the things that don’t work so that I am able to reach my goals?”

Stop doing things that don’t work and focus on your strengths and the things that you can improve so you can perform better in this rapidly changing world. Don’t argue with the changing world. Don’t hope that things will go back to old times—because they won’t. It’s going to keep changing very quickly. [So] you really need to up your game in terms of your personal and leadership skills so that you’re better equipped to deal with a storm.

This interview originally appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of SUCCESS+ Magazine. Photo courtesy of Dr. Michelle Rozen

The post Swimming With the Current: Michelle Rozen’s Tips for Becoming a Better Leader appeared first on SUCCESS.