Welcome to the October Issue of the Norquest Report! You are receiving this email as part of your free subscription to the Norquest Report from Norquest Associates.

This Month's Quotes

“Realize what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold.”
~ William M. Marston

“What gets measured, gets done.” 
~ Edward Deming

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." 
~ Conrad Hilton

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
~ Bill Cosby

Feedback for Leaders
by Bill Blake

Ken Blanchard describes “feedback” as the “Breakfast of Champions.”

It is almost impossible to reach your true potential without a coach or mentor to provide the feedback necessary to make the course corrections that will ensure your success.

A leader, today, is often isolated to the point where information, necessary for skill improvement, is not readily available. To find the greatest level of success, whether in sports or working with people in an organization, feedback can serve as motivation for success. When one receives feedback, they decide how they will apply it to their job. For the greatest success, any leaders should learn how to accept any kind of feedback, analyze it in a positive manner, and use it for further improvement.

Normal feedback, such as performance appraisals comes from just one source. A more reliable way is through a multi-source (or 360°) assessment tool that gathers and reports feedback from many sources. It is also the most effective method available for giving people information about different areas of their performance that are hard to measure.

To reach their performance potential people need feedback on how they are doing. Feedback can also be used in developmental programs to assess the impact of the programs and is most effective in coaching and mentoring.

Continue reading at www.360FeedbackAndMore.com

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Profile of the Month: Discovering Diversity

“My father was the son of immigrants, and he grew up bilingual, but English is what my father taught me and what he spoke to me. America's strength is not our diversity; it is our ability to unite around common principles even when we come from different backgrounds.” Ernest Istook “One day I undertook a tour through the country, and the diversity and beauties of nature I met with in this charming season, expelled every gloomy and vexatious thought.”
~ Daniel Boone

With the world becoming more change-oriented and diverse, diversity has taken on a new importance in the workplace. Organizations know they must help employees understand, accept, and capitalize on differences. They know the cultural backgrounds and experiences of diverse employees and customers can enrich the organization, making it more innovative and globally competitive. Simply recognizing diversity helps link the variety of talents and strengths within the organization.

But communication can become a problem unless it is managed. People from different backgrounds perceive messages in different ways. Miscommunication can lead to a variety of challenges - unless care is observed.

But diversity is not only about preventing unwanted discrimination, it is also about valuing differences, and inclusion across such areas as ethnicity, age, culture, sexual orientation, disability, mental capacity, and religious beliefs.

The Discovering Diversity Profile helps individuals explore their own viewpoints on workforce diversity in four key areas:

Continue reading at www.ProfileProf.com

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Productivity Tip of the Month

It’s late in the day. You have put in a long day of work. You turn to your daily log and your to-do list; and are dismayed to see that most of your list remains undone! What happened?.

Well, here are 2 things to try:

1. Set some time at the end of the day to plan tomorrow’s list of things that should be done, and assign each a priority number, and a REALISTIC time estimate of how long it will take to complete the task. Allow at least one hour for interruptions and once the day is full, postpone other lower priority tasks to a future date.
2. The next morning start with priority #1 and use a kitchen timer to set the time allowed. At the end of the time allowed, if the task is not finished decide whether to finish that task or move on to the next task. Your priority rankings will determine your decision.

At the end of the day, review your work. If your full day is not complete – at least your most important tasks will be. Then plan for the next day using the same priority ranking. You may not finish all your work, but knowing that the most important tasks are completed will give you satisfaction.

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