The Young Entrepreneur Council is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. Read previous SmartBlogs posts by YEC. If you enjoy this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our newsletters on small business and entrepreneurialism. Q. When learning how to manage better, what is one resource an entrepreneur should utilize (ex: a book, website, course, etc.) to strengthen their management skills? 1. Read "A Year With Peter Drucker" This fantastic book provides 52 weeks of coaching focused on driving effective leadership. From management to innovation, this read covers all the themes that Drucker identified as most important to leadership development. Our team at AirPR is currently reading a chapter per week and members take turns leading group discussions applying Drucker’s words to our business. — Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer, AirPR 2. Join or create a mastermind group A mastermind group, as popularized by Napoleon Hill’s "Think and Grow Rich," can be tremendously helpful in improving one’s self. If you can surround yourself with a few peers facing similar challenges — ideally peers who are a step or two ahead of you, in this case — you can tap into a wealth of knowledge and experience. I’ve personally had opportunities to learn and improve through multiple groups. — Erik Reagan, Focus Lab LLC 3. Read "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits" This book gives you a detailed guide on how to manage your entire business using a simplified plan and a set routine. In the startup world, routine and process is key to manage the endless fires that come up each day. In my previous startup, everyone in the company read this book and we standardized our goal setting and meeting schedule accordingly. — Faraz Khan, Go Direct Lead Generation 4. Write something I was once an aspiring screenwriter in L.A. After going through that grinder and learning how to edit myself down to the comma, I never feared starting my own business. There’s nothing harder than bulletproofing a script, and those skills led me to pitch well and execute like an unpublished writer eager for a credit. We’re all selling a story. Wordplayer.com was my bible, and it still is. — Michael Portman, Birds Barbershop 5. Circulate surveys I have implemented a "Rate Your Manager" survey, which employees complete anonymously. Each employee can rate and comment on their direct manager and their CEO. The anonymity allows subordinates to be honest and speak their mind without fear of retaliation. Then, each of my managers is encouraged to read the comments, analyze their statistics to see how they are doing, and spend time reflecting on the feedback. — Joshua Waldron, Silencerco LLC 6. Ask your employees It’s hard being at the top. Getting candid feedback from your employees takes trust and time, so set the tone from the beginning. Employees need to know from day one that honest feedback is not only encouraged, it is required. There is no greater resource for improving your management skills than asking those who are affected by it — no book, website or course can beat that.— Alex Riley, MeritHall 7. Surround yourself with excellence I find it invaluable to surround myself with friends and acquaintances who are excellent at a wide range of skills so that I am able to constantly learn from new and interesting perspectives. I set up my entire social structure to avoid mistakes before they happen. But when trouble arises — it always does — I am equipped with a group who is willing and capable of supporting and guiding me. — Dario Meli, Quietly 8. Get a leadership coach There is a lot of leadership advice out there; some good, some trash. But nothing from a book or website will provide the customized advice each entrepreneur needs to thrive. I found the best way to grow as a manager was to put down the books and hire a leadership coach. Face-to-face personalized coaching and advice is powerful, and worth every dollar. — Joel Holland, VideoBlocks 9. Try StandOut So much of management is about communication and listening — learning about yourself and the people around you. I use StandOut to inform others about my strengths and learn about theirs. StandOut unveils your top two strength roles and offers specific, practical ideas that leaders can use to lead, communicate with and manage others. — Brendon Schrader, Antenna 10. Listen to audiobooks I once heard Brian Tracy refer to his car as a university on wheels. I have to agree, as I find that time spent in the car commuting to the office can be utilized best by listening and learning. You can download audiobooks from iTunes or Audible for under 10 bucks. Alternatively, consider borrowing audiobooks on CDs from your local library. — David Ciccarelli, Voices.com 11. Become a Little League coach Children have no filter and will rarely do something unless they want to. If you really want to motivate adults, you should try coaching children in a sport. They’ll tell you immediately if you’re being unkind, or if they just don’t care about what you’re saying. If you can stay with one team through an entire season, you’re ready to manage a team of adults. — Jared Brown, Hubstaff Related Posts: Common mistakes leaders make during periods of fast growth What would you change about your company’s 2014? How do you motivate your team after an unexpected setback? How can leaders help defuse an employee outburst or stressed-out reaction? What makes a piece of performance feedback useful? What resources can help entrepreneurs be better managers? originally published by SmartBlogs

It’s remarkable to see huge companies go up in flames due to managerial failure. And yet it happens regularly. Why? Frequently, the cause of managerial failure is rooted in corporate culture. Managerial failure often springs from a lack of humility, curiosity, and open-mindedness that is reflected in the attitudes, language and behavior — the culture — of the people in a company, and in particular, the company’s leaders. For example, a company fails to notice and respond to the changing marketplace or to opportunities to bring about disruptive innovation in its industry. The failure leads to declining revenue and profit. Costs must be cut in order to survive. People lose their jobs. The company fails to recover and sells itself or closes its doors for good. Are there "red flags" that might indicate the effect your current corporate culture is having? Ask yourself the following: Are our leaders consistently seeking the opinions and ideas of others then considering what they hear before making decisions? Is it safe for people who are not in positions of power to speak up if they have something important to share? Is information freely shared among people throughout our company? When the answers to the three questions are "yes" there will be a high degree of "knowledge flow" in your company’s culture. When the answers are "no," your company will be accumulating "knowledge traps" that will eventually sabotage performance and put your company at a higher risk for managerial failure. Knowledge traps are like cholesterol Knowledge traps represent relational breakdowns that prevent knowledge that exists in your company from reaching a decision-maker who needs it to make an optimal decision. Absent a piece of knowledge flowing to the right decision-maker, there is a higher risk that a sub-optimal decision will be made. Knowledge traps are like cholesterol in the human body. Too much cholesterol build up leads to a heart attack and risk of death; too many knowledge traps lead to managerial failure and risk of corporate death. Several types of knowledge traps exist. The manager who lacks humility to seek and consider the ideas and opinions of others is a knowledge trap. The employee who withholds information from a colleague is a knowledge trap. This goes for managers and departments that are rivals and withhold information from one another too. A company with an isolationist culture that is out of touch with customer and competitive developments is a knowledge trap. Below are three ways to increase knowledge flow and reduce the risk of knowledge traps that lead to managerial failure. 1. Put your cards on the table On a regular basis, get in front of the people you lead and share the issues you are working on and thinking about. First, tell them what you are thinking. I call this "putting your cards on the table." Next, ask people what they think is right, wrong and/or missing from your thinking. Let them speak. Just listen. Don’t criticize. Resist the temptation to be defensive if your view is challenged. I also recommend having someone else take notes so you can give your full attention to each speaker. Thank people when they share their opinions and ideas. You will be surprised what you learn from a knowledge flow session and how it will improve the quality of your decisions. It will also improve the way people execute your decisions because you’ve given them a voice. Follow up in writing to tell people what you heard and what you’ve going to do about it. 2. Encourage creative friction In a culture that values knowledge flow people will disagree and they need to be able to work through their disagreements. Let people know that this creative friction is part of every great company and that it should be encouraged, not suppressed or avoided. It is wise to set ground rules. Everyone’s attitude should be to focus on getting to the right solution and not on being right for reasons of personal pride. General George Washington, for example, had terrible judgment when it came to military decisions. He made it safe for his war council to say what they believed. He took their advice and it contributed to his success as a military leader. Another ground rule is that communication should be constructive and respectful, and that uncivil communication is not acceptable. 3. Let the sunshine in Many companies are stingy when it comes to sharing information with employees-at-large. It’s better to let the sun shine on information so that decision-makers are more likely to be aware of it and factor it into the decisions they make. Industry research reports, and articles on customers and on competitors should be shared broadly. There are several ways to do this. Post as much information as possible on your company’s intranet and write about it on internal blogs. Encourage people in your organization to comment on these posts. The more knowledge flow, the better. When you put your cards on the table, encourage creative friction and let the sunshine in, you will be creating knowledge flow and an internal marketplace of ideas that will improve the quality of decision-making and reduce the risk of managerial failure. This post was adapted from "Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work," by Michael Lee Stallard. He is president of E Pluribus Partners, a leadership consulting and training firm based in Greenwich, Conn. Follow Stallard on his blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or on LinkedIn. If you enjoy this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better, smarter leader. Related Posts: How to keep remote employees enthused, energized and engaged How to save a dying company like "The Shack" Microsoft: Good news and bad news. Which first? Summertime quotas: When sales quotas are delivered late, the business suffers 3 ways to tap the power of community 3 ways to reduce risk of managerial failure originally published by SmartBlogs

Path to Workforce is SmartBrief Education’s vision of college and career readiness, encompassing K-12, adult learners, career changers, non-traditional students and those who forgo a traditional four-year college experience. Stay tuned for ongoing #Path2W coverage, including expert insights and reader feedback. I love any and every American Dream story. Give me a "rags to riches" tale, or the iconic story of the lowly mailroom clerk working his way up the company ladder to become the CEO, and I will give you a juicy, single-head nod of affirmation. Even American car commercials that equate buying cars with our personal level of ambition rev me up sometimes, as does Drake’s song, "Started From The Bottom." But somewhere along the road, this narrative takes a detour to la-la-land, and nowhere is this better witnessed than in our schools. So the time has come for me to pump the brakes on this commercial media propaganda machine, and help clarify the issue, because so much is at stake. First, let’s talk about stress. Take a walk in the shoes of the modern student. Sure, they may lack in the advanced time management skills and maturity helpful in coping with their stress. But the increasingly hyper-judgmental college selection process (their words) forces them to work at unprecedented levels compared to previous generations. For a detailed examination of the shrinking "middle-class" student, please see my previous post here. In the throes of their overwhelm, especially now during final-exam and SAT season, a significant cohort of students will cite how "so many billionaires" are college dropouts- including the likes of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs of Apple. My oh my, aren’t those stories so appealing? Here’s why: Each of us resents at least portions of the system at large. We all have felt the need to begrudgingly jump through flaming hoops not of our own design, and the harrowing Pac-Man game of getting into college is certainly one of those societal hoops. Except that Pac-Man is immensely more fun by comparison. The media loves these anecdotes. It lures in viewers who fantasize of blazing their own trail and "unplugging from The Matrix" that is their current life. It certainly sells at the box office, evidenced by recent major motion pictures depicting the two aforementioned billionaires. But what the media does not do is dwell on the unquestioned truth that for every dropout success story, scores of untold dropout failure stories exist as well. In his fascinating TED talk, Dan Gilbert discusses a comparable scenario of the media’s coverage of lottery winners. If the media were to devote 30 seconds to each of the 100 million lottery losers for every one winner, he argues, then we’d witness a nine and a half year streaming marathon of people saying how it could NOT be you. The same can be said about people who undervalue the importance of school, in the face of all these apparent dropout success stories, both near and far. I’m talking directly to you, beloved Gen-Y members, who came into adolescent consciousness in a post-2008 economic crash landscape. On one hand, you see your sister graduate from college and then immediately return home and can’t find work to pay off her six-figure student loan debt. Then on the other hand, on Instagram you see an acquaintance you went to high school with run a successful "Kickstarter" campaign for her personal project and subsequently appear to propel forward in her budding career. We need to be very careful with how our young ones consume this media narrative, because if it goes unchecked, sooner or later they will question the need to commit to advanced education, thinking that walking away will be in their best interest. We need to remind them that American workers with a college degree are paid 74% more than those with only a high-school degree, according to the OECD. We need to remind them that higher learning is not only about gaining knowledge, but also about the pursuit of wisdom, self-discovery, and the personal responsibility to always become a better human being. Having said that, I’m not against the notion of the irrepressibly passionate few "going for it" their own way, non-traditionally. If my own child one day were to proclaim her desire to go rogue and forgo college to instead pursue her passion, it wouldn’t be right for me to slam the door on her. Rather, I would work to understand her core belief system, what her underlying goals are, and constantly pepper her with reality-based, non-agenda questions, which begin with some variation of, "Have you considered…" (e.g. Have you thought about what the business plan for your idea would look like? Have you considered how you would raise the initial capital for such a pursuit, or how much you would need? Have you thought about what you’ll do to support yourself while you build your program? Have you considered the possibility that you can do this will also in school learning how to do what you love even better, perhaps at a trade school?") I would walk the line between cultivating both her sense of empowerment as well as her common sense, with ample room to dream and question reality. And above all, no matter whether the path includes college or not, our young ones must be ready to grind it out in order to position themselves to wherever they wish to go. Author Malcolm Gladwell believes that expertise in a craft requires 10,000 hours, or five years of dedicated time. Those five years shouldn’t be torture by any means, but we all must take our inevitable lumps on the path to mastery and eventual prosperity. Working through the grind teaches patience, resilience and humility, all invaluable marks of successful and happy living. So I urge anyone reading this to bear in mind the following. If you ever witness someone in the middle school to college age years of their life scorning the idea of education as valuable, remind them about reality. After all, it’s called the American Dream, not the American Pipedream. Robert Ahdoot is a high-school math teacher and founder of YayMath.org, a free online collection of math video lessons filmed live in his classroom, using costumes and characters. Robert has been teaching high school math for 10 years, has given two TEDx talks, and travels to schools promoting his message of positive learning through human connection. He is author of the upcoming book One-on-One 101, The Art of Inspired and Effective Individualized Instruction. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about education. We offer newsletters covering educational leadership, special education and more. Related Posts: How is the U.S. faring in the great #skillsrace? How making expands students’ visions of themselves Raising a ready workforce: The missing curriculum component How to go from "teacher" to "teacherpreneur" All’s well that ends well? Why we shouldn’t glorify billionaires who dropped out of school originally published by SmartBlogs

Sheryl Sandberg is best known for being chief operating officer at Facebook and as the author of "Lean In" and founder of the subsequent movement. On June 3, at 11 a.m., she showed us a side we had not seen as much of before: her human and vulnerable side. Her Facebook post about losing her husband, Dave Goldberg, was one of the most raw, moving and touching pieces of the human experience I have read in a while. Moreso than her book every single leader needs to read this piece on being human. I am inspired to write about her post because so many of us have lost touch with our own humanity and that of others in our workplace. It leaves us disengaged and disconnected from each other and the work we do. Here are the leadership lessons I took away from her post. Recite.com Our leadership and our workplaces need our humanity. Sandberg writes about how uncomfortable it is for many people at work to acknowledge the passing of her husband, to allow themselves to get connected with the grief she’s feeling. Most of us are afraid to acknowledge emotion in the workplace and most workplace cultures discourage emotional expression. Many of my executive coaching clients fear being judged as lacking "executive presence" or, worse, "being emotional." Many of us believe we need to leave our feelings at the door when we enter the workplace. We can’t really leave our feelings at the door. What happens is that they go underground and affect our behaviors in ways that can derail us. Our discomfort with our own humanity makes our workplaces inhumane and our people disconnected from one another. Our workplaces desperately need people who can bring their hearts to the table while making tough decisions like restructuring organizations and firing people. It is our own ability to be touched and moved that creates a space for cultures where people thrive, engage, connect and innovate. Life-shaking events happen as part of the human experience. Be kind to yourself and others during these times. Sandberg writes that, until this tragedy, she never really knew what to say to others in need. She would try to reassure them that things would be OK. In our discomfort with our emotions, we often rush to have others shift their emotions to being happy (and dare I say productive) again. Sometimes, it is wisest to listen with an open heart, be with the person in a shared moment of humanity, and then allow what wants to be expressed from that place of empathy. Often, it is not what we say but the feelings we share that communicate what needs to be communicated. Choose life and meaning during times of trial. A common part of the human experience is the trials we each face, our personal form of hell during those moments. None of us are exempt from that, even the most powerful like Sandberg. Her post reminds us that we can choose to be resilient. A big part of that choice is to find something meaningful — a lesson, a purpose, an experience that can be gained and shared from the times of trial that can serve others. Our vulnerabilities connect us to one another rather than separate us. Most of us are afraid to show any sign of weakness in the workplace. Sandberg’s post has nearly 900,000 Facebook "likes" as of this writing. Her raw sharing of her experience has struck a powerful chord. She realized that to restore the closeness she wanted with her colleagues, she had to let them in, to be more open and vulnerable than she ever wanted to be. Vulnerability is a trait we greatly admire — in others. It is hard to practice, but once we let ourselves get there, we almost always find an opening that creates possibilities that were not available before. Ms. Sandberg, thank you for sharing your human side with us and creating what I hope will be a path and a movement for us to be more real, more authentic, and more human with each other in our workplaces. A movement for greater authenticity at work is my movement. Thank you for showing us the way. I salute your courage, resilience, and humanity. Henna Inam is the CEO of Transformational Leadership Inc. and the author of "Wired for Authenticity." She is a leadership coach, global speaker, and often plays junior philosopher on her Forbes and company blog. Follow Inam on Twitter, Facebook or her blog. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on being a better, smarter leader. Related Posts: Showing empathy in your leadership The role of empathy in business success Doing the right things In business — what that looks like Let us all praise the quiet leader Become a great listener Sheryl Sandberg’s insights into workplace empathy originally published by SmartBlogs

When marketers monitor social conversation, it’s difficult to determine if a spike in post volume is worthy of attention or simply a fluke. For instance, Dairy Queen’s marketing team may notice a sharp increase in social posts that mention their brand. Getting to the bottom of a conversation spike normally requires digging through hundreds of posts to get the complete picture. What caused the spike to occur? It could be something in the news, a shout-out from a celebrity or a customer service issue gone viral. Either way, Dairy Queen needs to go beyond post volume to understand the reason mentions spiked at all. What’s important to note, however, is that a sub-topic that spikes around your brand is truly only valuable if it deviates from the norm. For instance, if posts about Dairy Queen rise at the beginning of the summer, no one should be surprised. People are spending time outside, are warming up and desire an ice cream snack. This is a routine rise in conversation from a predictable event. On the other hand, if Dairy Queen were to see a spike in posts in December, they would need deeper insight as to why — what stimulus has become a common enough connection to my brand that it is a driver of a major conversation spike? Is this an opportunity to develop new content, innovate a product or optimize media? When brands have this information, they can react quickly and connect with customers on a new level. For instance, FIFA sponsors like McDonald’s and Budweiser recently got a shock on social media when high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested on corruption charges. Fans spoke adamantly on social media to demand these brands abandon their sponsorship, and the media buzz only increased when Last Week Tonight host John Oliver demanded the end of these brand sponsorships on his show, greatly increasing the issue’s visibility. The problem is that these brands see massive amounts of social posts about them every day. During this public relations crisis, it was crucial that the brands be able to understand why people were posting about their brand and when in order to determine an appropriate response. The way consumers use social media to discuss brands changes rapidly. From product reviews, social event planning or sharing content, the ways your customers chat about your brand vary and it’s important to understand the reasons behind these changes to remain relevant in their lives and conversations. When you understand the why behind a conversation spike, you bridge the gap between social reaction and proactive social conversation generation. Jaime Brugeras is vice president of analytics at Networked Insights. Related Posts: Does social media change your agency relationships? How Del Monte Foods finds social-media success 5 steps to sharing other people’s content Social marketing success begins with a strategy A step-by-step guide to social direct response Know why your customers are talking about you originally published by SmartBlogs

Photo: Flickr user Larry Specialty food sellers are set to make their annual trek to the Javits Center in New York City for the Summer Fancy Food Show this month. The three-day show starts June 28 and, for the first time this year, the Specialty Food Association has launched an ad campaign and partnered with grocery retailers Kings Food Markets, Morton Williams and FreshDirect on promotions designed to raise awareness of specialty foods. Each year, the trade show floor bursts with booths filled with new treats, innovative twists on traditional favorites, indulgent goodies and healthful snacks. This year’s lineup will include 2,400 exhibitors from around the world, sampling about 180,000 products, 100 of which are part of the retail promotion, the association said in a press release. The retailers will promote food and beverages from companies including Brooklyn Brine Co., Cypress Grove Chevre and Tate’s Bake Shop, with in-store signage, sampling, discounts and online messaging. In another first, the week of the show will be declared Specialty Food Week in New York City. Specialty foods — from Italian holiday cakes to culinary matcha to artisan chocolate — saw their sales top $100 billion for the first time last year, up from $88.3 billion in 2013, according to the association. The group, which launched in 1952 when a band of cheese importers joined forces to fight tariffs, has hosted the growing show for more than 60 years. The sweet and savory treats come with a menu of seminars, chef demonstrations and speakers including former Trader Joe’s President Doug Rauch, who launched a new not-for-profit grocery concept called Daily Table in Dorcester, Mass., earlier this year. Rauch made news in 2013, when his plan for the new concept — which would turn food that’s past its expiration date but still good into affordable prepared meals, with the dual goals of curbing hunger and cutting down on food waste. Rauch’s speech, set for Monday, June 29 at 9 a.m., will focus on "How to Do Good While Doing Well in the Marketplace." Career trend-spotter Suzy Badaracco will take the same time slot on Tuesday morning, with a talk titled Beyond the Millennials: Generational Differences and the Future of Specialty Food. Other sessions on this year’s agenda include: A daylong session dubbed The Basics: The Business of Specialty Food, to give newbies a primer on brand building, selling to supermarkets, marketing and pricing. Speakers will include Specialty Food Association President and former Kraft executive Ann Daw, Renfro Foods President Doug Renfro and Native Kjalii Foods founder Julie Jeremy. Start Right, Grow Strong: 9 Critical Steps, with Blackpoint Management founder John Roberts The Theater of Retail: Understanding Consumer Experience with Kevin Kelley Non-GMO: Go or No Go? A roundtable discussion __________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: Global goodies and hot trends from the Summer Fancy Food Show A new generation of entrepreneurs turn their talents to healthier food Summer Fancy Food Show to serve up local, global treats New York City braces for the latest in fancy food Can companies cut food waste and feed the world? Foodies celebrate summer in the city with specialty foods originally published by SmartBlogs

Difficult people are everywhere. They’re in line in front of you at the bank, shopping with you in the supermarket, and next to you on the highway in rush hour. In most circumstances, the best way to deal with the troublesome people around you is to ignore them, especially if they have little to no bearing on your life. Unfortunately, it’s not quite so easy to ignore the difficult people in the workplace. Whether you work directly with challenging individuals or experience them in passing, few things are more frustrating than sharing a professional domain with individuals who are not an active, willing part of a team. As a hardworking employee, it can be very challenging to see a drain on the system in an area where productive team members are standard. Identifying difficult people in the workplace Difficult people come in many forms, all of which are counterproductive in a workplace setting. They may be lazy, late, slow or slackers, but the imposition they create in a professional environment can be troublesome, if not toxic. Rather than contributing to an endeavor, these individuals are a drain on resources and productivity, bringing the strong employees down to a troublesome level. They tend to be negative, cynical and unwilling to take responsibility for job performance. They may also be critical of a company’s vision or of the positive work other employees are demonstrating. Many leaders may find looking the other way to be the easiest solution in managing difficult people, but this is generally a poor strategy. In a workplace environment, even one difficult personality can negatively affect other team members, turning what should be a positive situation into one that may threaten the performance and productivity of the workforce in general. Credit: unsplash.com Approaching solutions for difficult people Identifying difficult people in the workplace is often quite straightforward, but working to transform a struggling team member may take an inspired approach. The first instinct of many professionals may be to simply let these individuals go, cutting dead weight to create room for new up-and-comers. While this can be and often is an effective strategy, a better approach is to create an environment where people can flourish. That is because, while some difficult employees are born that way, many others are created by a work environment that stifles employee enthusiasm and creativity and frustrates them along the way, making them feel they are simply not valued by the organization. The ideal scenario is to build teams of leaders where everyone is involved, engaged, committed, well developed and valued. Under this design, difficult people are not created; rather, they are elevated and often become productive employees who are leaders, because of the design under which they operate. As a result, instead of devoting resources to get rid of them, the organization is working as an integrated unit to pull them up. Meanwhile, for the few remaining employees, if any, who remain difficult, they will become the responsibility of the team to deal with. It will no longer be management versus the employees. Everyone will be in it together to deal with a problem person. Building a Team of Leaders The Team of Leaders concept operates under the idea that working in a team is so much more than simply making peace with the people around you. Instead, the most effective team is made up of professionals with cultivated leadership qualities who embrace the opportunity to own their collective and personal success. Creating a team of leaders in your organization may not be simple, but it’s one of the most important strategies a company can implement. To create a company culture that embraces those who work independently as effective team members, it is important to ensure every employee has a voice. Rather than simply delegating and communicating news from executives, you develop a work design that gives team members input on all key decisions affecting them. This design also provides them with a way to voice concerns, ideas and constructive criticisms. With an outlet through which frustrations can be addressed, it’s easier for difficult people to set their qualms aside. In order for an individual to prove his leadership abilities, it is also important to provide opportunities for all individuals to exert authority. Whether this means allowing a team member to follow through on a suggestion or project, or rotating prestigious or powerful responsibilities, the only way an employee can see himself as a leader is to prove to himself that he can handle the challenge. Transforming difficult employees The transition from difficult person to effective team member does not happen overnight. The right design and implementation, however, can help formerly burdensome employees become enthusiastic and productive team members. By creating an employee culture that supports career development, allows each individual to contribute and emphasizes the importance of properly demonstrated authority, it’s much easier to facilitate an environment in which every team member is valued. Difficult people are everywhere, and they aren’t going to go away any time soon. When you’re faced with difficult people in the workplace, however, it takes the right strategy to turn a difficulty into a success. By tailoring your work design and internal culture to cultivate a team of leaders within your organization, you and your employees can benefit from an environment designed to empower every member. Stewart Liff is an HR and visual management expert and the president and CEO of the consulting company Stewart Liff & Associates. He has written articles for Government Executive Magazine, American Management Association, and Talent Management Association. He recently co-authored a book with Paul W. Gustavson, "A Team of Leaders: Empowering every member to take Ownership, Demonstrate Initiative." Liff’s other books include "Deliver Results," "Seeing is Believing: How the New Art of Visual Management will Boost Performance throughout your Organization," and "98 Opportunities to Improve Management in Government, The Complete Guide to Hiring and Firing Government Employees, Managing Your Government Career: Success Strategies That Work. " Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn. Paul W. Gustavson is a leading expert in organizational design, author, speaker and consultant, as well as president of Organization Planning & Design Inc., a California-based consulting firm. With over 30+ years of in-depth study high performance teams and design of work systems, Gustavson has devoted to helping creating great places for people to work. Connect with him on twitter or LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s e-mail list for our daily newsletter on better recruiting, retention and human resources management. Related Posts: Harnessing the power of your hidden leaders If not the annual performance appraisal, then what? Battling the bulge: Handling the expectations of too many employees for too few promotions 3 ways managing millennials will make you a better leader Are your employees people managers or subject-matter experts? How do you decide? How Team of Leaders helps deal with difficult people originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartBlog on Education will highlight summer learning and enrichment for educators during June. In this post, English teacher Starr Sackstein shares some of her favorite summer professional development events and resources.  No longer confined to the inside of a classroom, now the world is the learning canvas. Teachers from all over the country use the summer to extend their learning and relax as they recharge and prepare for the next year. With a variety of learning opportunities both face-to-face and virtual, teachers can plan a plethora of experiences to change their practice and network with folks who can become a vital support system in the future. Edcamps and other Edcamp style conferences If you haven’t tried an edcamp yet, no better time than the summer. These "unconference" meet ups, seek to put the learning in the educators’ hands, trusting that when you put a room full of teachers together, people will make the most of that time. Attendance is free to all who come and the schedule of sessions is determined on the day based on the needs of the attendees. Whether participating as a session leader or participant, the opportunity to share ideas is abundant. Because of the laid back nature of the planning, teachers are free to "let their feet do the judging" of the success. No one is expected to stay in a space that isn’t working for them; attendees are encouraged to go where they need to be, independently making decisions. After you’ve attended an edcamp it is recommended that you reflect on the experience, either micro-blogging on Twitter and sharing as you go or by writing about it your experience on your own blog to share the learning and more importantly how you plan on applying it in the future. Face to face national conferences If edcamps aren’t your thing, and you’d like something a little more organized, there are many learning opportunities like ISTE2015 or EmpowerED conferences, planned by major organizations, providing an impressive line-up of educational thought leaders to share information on the most important trends in education. Attendees pay to go to these conferences, but expect to bring back new ideas for practice. They are more structured in their approaches to sharing information; schedules are pre-prepared. Sometimes schools will even pick up the cost of attendance. So if you read a great book that has inspired you to try something new, check out the programs of these major conferences and see if your favorite educational leaders are in attendance. Sometimes the informal face time can be more valuable than the sessions. Twitter, online conferences and books Not everyone can afford to travel to conferences, so perhaps virtual conferences operated by teachers are a better alternative. Teachers can attend live webinars addressing particular skills or topics they are interested in learning more about. Want something less formal even than that? Consider participating in a Twitter chat for an hour on any given day or night. There is a formal list of current chats here: Twitter chats address all kinds of topics and some are regionally located. New topics every week allow you to interact and get ideas from educators from around the world. They have something for everyone. In addition to great online chats, teachers can find great books that address their individual needs. Want to learn about becoming connected, there’s a book for that, an entire series (Corwin Connected Educator Series). Want to give up grades or change assessment, there’s a book for that. Depending on what you want to accomplish, there are great lists of teacher reading to consider at your leisure. Just because teachers aren’t in school, doesn’t mean the learning has to end. Get invigorated, network and grow to get ready for the fall. What will you do to gear up for next year? Please share. Starr Sackstein currently works at World Journalism Preparatory School in Flushing, N.Y., as a high-school English and journalism teacher. She is the author of Teaching Mythology Exposed: Helping Teachers Create Visionary Classroom Perspective and Blogging for Educators . She blogs for Education Week Teacher on "Work in Progress" in addition to her personal blog StarrSackstein.com where she discusses all aspects of being a teacher. Sackstein co-moderates #jerdchat and #sunchat and contributes to #NYedChat. In speaking engagements, Sackstein speaks about blogging, journalism education, throwing out grades and BYOD, helping people see technology doesn’t have to be feared. Follow her @MsSackstein on Twitter. If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about education. We offer newsletters covering EdTech, Higher Education and more. Related Posts: How libraries can support summer-reading programs How exam review prepares students for success Grow like the grass Retreat to advance Channeling Goldilocks: Trying to get it "just right" Summer is a great time for self-paced learning originally published by SmartBlogs

Davidson (Photo: Kellogg) Wendy Davidson has almost 25 years of experience as an executive in the food and beverage industry, and she successfully balances her professional responsibilities as president of the Kellogg Company with volunteer work and her role as a mother of two. She is a member of the company’s Global Leadership Team, the Kellogg North America Leadership Team, the Global Snacks and Global Breakfast Operating Councils, the Women of Kellogg network and serves as executive sponsor for the Global Talent Management Advisory Team. SmartBrief interviewed Davidson about how she defines work-life balance and what advice she has for women who want to become leaders in the industry. What advice do you have for women who want to become leaders in the industry? I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have a network of industry colleagues who have provided invaluable coaching and advice as I explored opportunities to stretch and grow. They’ve given their time to share their experiences and insights to help me as I transitioned into new roles both personally (as a mom!) and professionally. For women aspiring to play a larger leadership role in the industry, my advice is to seize opportunities when they present themselves, build authentic connections and learn something new every day. Don’t be afraid to take risks. With every new opportunity comes great learning which will build your skills and experiences as you move forward in your career. Equally important, take every opportunity to give back to others as an advocate, mentor and coach. Just as others have supported me in my growth, I have a responsibility to provide the same for the future of our industry. I’m a firm believer it is important to be yourself and be authentic. Whether you are at a customer meeting or an industry event, embrace each learning and networking opportunity that comes your way. When you make connections your world gets bigger, and your perspective gets broader. You build friendships, find mentors, collaborate with customers and brainstorm with colleagues. How did you balance the responsibilities of your career with volunteering and raising a family? What is your definition of work-life balance? Over the years, people have often asked me that question and I don’t believe there is right answer. I think it’s unique to the individual and achieving balance is something you have to focus on every day. What balance looks like for me on one day may not be the same the next. I am very fortunate to have a fantastic husband and two beautiful children who, as my "home team", have been very supportive of my career. We work to make sure that we prioritize our time with a focus on enjoying the journey together. For example, when I joined Kellogg and we were planning to move to Chicago from Baltimore, I knew I would be commuting for a long period of time, so I asked the kids about activities or events that were most important to them that I attend. While I knew I wouldn’t be able to be at everything, we agreed that I would do everything possible to move my schedule to be present at the things that were most important to them. There are many nights when I leave work early to attend a school function or sporting event, and then power up the laptop later in the evening. Those aren’t the hours I expect my team to work, but those are the things that work for me and my family. For me, it’s all about communication with those closest to me to ensure clear expectations and managing the give-and-take on a daily, almost hourly basis. Kellogg was named one of NAFE‘s Top 50 Companies for Female Executives again this year. What does Kellogg do to help women succeed in the industry? Kellogg strongly believes in investing in talent development, building a pipeline of future leaders and fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. Our internal employee resource groups Women of Kellogg and Women in Supply Chain continue to drive positive change in the organization through professional development and by fostering stronger engagement across the business. This helps women build on their leadership skills, drive organizational excellence and create strategic connections with peers across the industry. We are also a corporate sponsor of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, where I am currently chair-elect and a member of the Executive Committee. WFF offers resources for individuals to build their skills, expand their knowledge and make meaningful strategic connections to reach their full potential and accelerate their career growth. We encourage our employees to leverage all of the resources available to them to help enhance their skills as they develop and grow within the company. You have held leadership positions in the industry for almost 25 years. How has the industry changed since you began your career? I think one of the greatest changes I’ve seen is how consumer preferences have evolved. The food industry continues to serve as the backdrop for some of the most memorable experiences for individuals and families. Whether eating meals in the home, at restaurants, or on the go, consumers are demanding more convenience and greater variety. Over the last 25 years, I’ve watched the adoption of niche foods make their way into the mainstream, with global foods and flavors becoming available locally more than ever before. In the workplace, we have seen a greater emphasis on diversity at all levels with more women being elevated into leadership positions across the industry. Companies, like Kellogg, are implementing workplace initiatives and employee resource groups to help increase employee development and engagement. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the changes in technology. It has enabled us to become better connected to the consumer and allowed us to evolve with them over the years. It’s an exciting time and I am looking forward to seeing where the industry will be in the next 25 years. __________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: 5 ways to balance family and leadership-fueled travel Overworked and overwhelmed? Your answer starts with what you can control How the right routines (for you) help you show up at your best Feeling rushed? Break the habit of hurry and overwhelm Are you suffering from "rush" syndrome? Take this 7-point quiz Q&A: Kellogg President Wendy Davidson on how women can become leaders in the industry originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartBlog on Education will highlight summer learning and enrichment for educators during June. In this post, veteran educator Ed Bates shares how his school works with local libraries to support student learning during the summer. Our middle school has implemented a summer-reading program to reinforce and maintain the reading skills of students during the summer months. These reading skills constitute a major portion of their ELA work, which takes place in the upcoming year, but more importantly, attempts to foster an environment where reading and library usage can be enjoyable. Students are asked to read two books during the summer — one of their choice and one from a grade-level appropriate list. It’s our hope that we can advance literacy and academic performance by engaging students in reading during the summer months. We call upon the assistance of the public libraries to help foster a love of reading. There’s an attempt made to make reading fun and to take full advantage of what the public libraries offer in the summer, besides air conditioning. Researchers often refer to the "summer slide" — learning loss that kids encounter from June through August. School breaks can cause the average student to lose up to one month of instruction, with disadvantaged kids losing even more. It’s our hope that students can take advantage of what public libraries have to offer and hopefully lead to better academic performance when they return to school in the fall. Kids have to have access to books. Too many of them spend summers with no books to read. It was our hope that we could get books into the hands of kids during the summer months. In our building, when we closed the doors, the opportunity to read was also closed with them. We knew that kids who read more, read better, wrote and spelled better, and would have increased vocabularies. So we needed help. Enter the public libraries. With the help of our public library, we were able to bring kids and families together for reading and activities. Children were encouraged to discuss, write about and report on the books they read. The library staff was very helpful in interacting with our ELA teachers to assist students in selecting reading materials. They would often go above and beyond in providing literacy enhancing programs such as storytelling, music, and creative arts. We found that by providing the opportunity for all kids, regardless of their achievement levels, with as many reading experiences as possible, fostered a stronger climate in which the child read more on their own. This was, and is, extremely helpful with the students whose verbal abilities were in need of improvement. The activity of reading, in any form, built these capabilities. During DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read) the following year, it was found that kids were more apt to pick up a book or magazine (or even a newspaper!) and read without any prompting whatsoever. An additional benefit to the program was very evident in the number of families that would "field trip" it to the library. Families with kids of varying ages would walk to the library together, find a spot in a particular section they were interested in, and just sit down and read. The idea of summer reading involved the entire family and fostered a climate which encouraged our kids to become lifelong library users. Ed Bates has over 25 years experience in the classroom teaching young adults. As a certified National Trainer, he presents concepts to various school districts and universities throughout the country. He has extensive experience in implementation of NYS Common Core Mathematics Curriculum Modules, Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), and Integration of Technology into the Classroom. Related Posts: Summer is a great time for self-paced learning Grow like the grass Retreat to advance Channeling Goldilocks: Trying to get it "just right" Tips for supporting instructional coaches How libraries can support summer-reading programs originally published by SmartBlogs