New York SBDC Research Network

      I n the spirit of new year's resolutions, I wanted to share a couple of articles on being a leader for your business. These items are about the need for leadership and what that means. Many people don't consider their leadership style; they either inherit a method or randomly strike out without a plan. Organizations often randomly develop a cobbled together method that is predominantly reactionary. We admire companies that have a well-developed set of goals and philosophy but don't sit down to translate values into an approach for ourselves. Putting out fires is necessary but equipping your business with a value system that can be flexible and respects all involved ensures that employees and partners are equipped to handle the inevitable challenges that arise. Like any other skill, leadership skills can be developed. Organizing people toward a shared goal may seem like herding cats but most people want to do better. Seizing on that impulse is key and can be encouraged

Really Bad Powerpoint With Staff Training nearly upon us, I thought maybe a little advice on putting together a presentation might be in order. I was very much enjoying a presentation given by Seth Godin while researching motivational speakers at another blog called Small Business Marketing Strategies . Seth Godin's presentation is very worth checking out simply for it's humor but also for reminding us to think. His website describes his title as "Agent of Change" which I love. He points out the many silly things that tools supposedly made for people don't work and the ways they could be fixed. This led to Godin's blog which advertises his many books that all look like they would be fun reads. In this blog entry, he discusses the pitfalls of PowerPoint presentations and links to other sites that share advice on how to best use PowerPoint without abusing your audience.