Action Oriented

Meeting targets and achieving goals consistently regardless of the business situation isn't easy. A big part of doing this successfully is managing time effectively. In this course, you'll learn why it's important to align your goals with your company's goals, and you'll learn how to do it with a goal alignment worksheet. You'll also learn how to ask questions to clarify goals, and how to establish and prioritize priorities based on these goals.

Along with being credible and trustworthy, you can get results without direct authority by using your influence. Effective influence skills are probably the biggest differentiator when getting results without authority. When you influence, you engage and enlist others in getting results – without necessarily having formal power. Influence is not about forcing or exerting – it's about getting people on your side for good reasons. Three ways to promote influence are through language/effective communication, reciprocity/exchanging 'currencies', and persevering through resistance.

Leaders must execute the strategies they help create. Without execution, a strategy is just an idea. In this course, you'll learn how to build and lead an execution culture" that empowers employees to translate strategy into action."

An effective leader recognizes that organizational politics can provide positive ways to influence others in order to accomplish goals. In this course, you will be guided through numerous methods and strategies for effectively influencing a team to accept your ideas. You'll be introduced to the importance of political awareness and the essential skills involved in using positive politics and avoiding negative politics when persuading others. You'll also have an opportunity to practice methods for influencing effectively and ethically.

When you have limited resources and multiple goals, you have to know how to zero in on what's most important and focus on achieving it. In this course, you'll learn how to define and follow through on priorities for yourself and others.

You don't have to manage your time, but the stress and potential for mistakes grows when you don't. To manage time, you need to be organized. In this course, you'll learn strategies for improving your productivity depending on what type of time management personality you have. You'll also learn how to deal with time stealers, create manageable to-do lists, and maintain an organized time management approach.

Authority carries a certain type of power – typically position power. A person is granted the power and authority to meet goals and get results through a responsible job definition and accountability. The police officer that cites you for speeding. The financial manager that calls for an audit. The company manager that decides how to allocate the budget. People may comply, rebel, resist, or gripe about those in authority, but there is a reason and purpose for such positional power. On the other hand, most of the results that get accomplished in organizations come from the use of personal power and not solely reliant on direct authority. This is especially true in our work environments today, where information sources and networking contacts are accessible to all as means to results. But ultimately it comes down to personal credibility, influence, and political savvy. This course focuses on the power that comes with being credible and trustworthy.

Even if you know what's important to do and have an organized time management routine, losing focus can stop your progress in its tracks. In this course, you'll learn strategies for dealing with focus challenges and distractions at work. You'll also explore ways of saying no, and consider ways in which you can adjust your focus in response to changing circumstances or emergencies. And you'll learn how to refocus when something causes you to lose focus.