From an early age we have all heard the analogy, from our parents that “you were given two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak”. So true is this lesson in today’s business environment especially for the leaders in charge of company growth. Read More
About Mike Koper
Mike Koper is the Senior Projects Specialist for RWD’s Manufacturing group and has been a leader in the company for 11 years. As a certified Project Manager, he works to interface with client’s plants while establishing new and maintaining current training programs. He brings over 20 years to the manufacturing industry and has authored over 15 articles in trade magazines.
“Know thyself” – Socrates, 78 AD.
“You can know yourself only through
accurate analysis” – Napoleon Hill.
Self-knowledge is conscientiously divided into gut-checking, soul searching and reacquainting with self-time, each strongly related to the success in life and work.
In the writing of this blog, I normally stick to the mechanical steps of leadership development and performance improvement. Yet, feedback is a crucial element. In many ways it can be eye-opening, informative and possibly open a can of worms, pending the responders’ demeanor. In one study, the best predictor of a high performance appraisal was seeing yourself as others see you; the best predictor of a low appraisal was overrating your skills.
The most common element of life and work is “time”. Some call it a non re-chargable bank account, one that zero’s out at the end of each day and is confined to one hundred sixty eight hours per week. The use of this valuable asset is said to be the determining factor between successfully completing both large and small scale projects or lead to their failure. Its characteristics allow for it to be gained or loss, leveraged or mishandled, and used effectively and efficiently, or not. Time is the one common element in project management that is being burned at the same rate for all team members, no matter what country you are domiciled in.
The first USA Olympic Basketball Team, commonly referred to as “The Dream Team” arrived on the scene in 1992. Coached by the late Chuck Daly, was a team to be reckoned with as it contained such players as Karl Malone, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and its record 8-0, resulted in an Olympic Gold medal for the United States. Read More
The road to achievement or the road of life for that matter is bumpy, full of ruts and potholes. There are a lot of things that don’t go right and are upsetting. There’s lots to pay attention too. And yes, it is true there are good and bad people in this world, those that support you to succeed and those that don’t. Impossible situations do spring up, sometimes from virtually nothing and sometimes from neglect or lack of foresight. Most of these events are normal, get use to it, it will re-occur. On the other hand, losing one’s cool and getting unduly upset isn’t conducive to turning a nightmare initiative into a project of achievement. Being able to function normally under stress and pressure is one of the mission-critical requirements for most managerial jobs, especially project management. Controlling impulses, keeping emotions in check and showing patience are skills that can be improved.
