Meet Tai Adkins, the President, and CEO of ARC Group Contractors, LLC. Since founding the consulting firm in February 2020, Tai has been specializing in the development, coaching, and project management for small to mid-sized businesses. She has developed expertise at building industry relationships on behalf of her clients, as well as increasing their operational performance by identifying cost-saving opportunities and proposing improvements to best practices.
Across her career, Tai Adkins has developed skills in various areas, including leadership, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, project management, budgeting, supplier diversity program development, procurement (both direct and indirect), and navigating matrix organizations.
Learn more about Tai Adkins by visiting her website!
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How to Effectively Lead Under Pressure
The pressure that people feel while leading is different from the pressure they feel in their lives. Leadership is a difficult profession because you have to provide direction and because you have to maintain your sanity and well-being. You have to know how to get yourself out of a tough spot and know when you are in a tough place.
To be a good leader under pressure, you must have the right personality, integrity, and a strong belief in your abilities. It isn’t easy to accomplish, but if you lead with integrity, have faith in yourself, and have certain characteristics, this will become easier for you.
To lead under pressure, you must have the integrity to begin with. Integrity is having a sense of moral uprightness and honesty. It is the foundation for all your other skills as a leader. Without integrity, you cannot be a good leader because people will not listen to what you have to say if they do not trust you or your abilities. So lead with integrity and believe in yourself to make this happen.
It would help if you also had the right personality to succeed under pressure. You need to be able not to show how you are feeling while leading, as well as be able to read emotional cues in others and respond accordingly.
You must also be able to keep your self-esteem up when you are under pressure. People respect and listen to those who lead them well, even in stressful situations. You must have the right attitude as a leader if you want to succeed under challenging circumstances. If you approach your leadership with the right attitude, things should be easier.
You must have the right character to succeed under pressure because people will not follow you if they do not respect you and your abilities. Therefore, you have to have exemplary character. It means being trustworthy and having good people skills. If you want to lead under pressure, you should consider the factors above while leading. You will have a better chance of succeeding as a leader if you do.
To lead under pressure means making a difference, not only in your organization but also in the lives of others. It is about taking responsibility for what you can do and not being dependent on others to make things happen for you. Your power is not given to you. It comes from within, so use the power to fulfill your potential and lead under pressure.
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Giving Effective Feedback
Providing feedback is a dreaded activity for many leaders. According to a survey, 44% of managers implied that providing negative feedback is daunting, while 21% admitted to avoiding giving feedback. Practice is necessary for providing effective feedback. Read on to learn how to give feedback effectively.
- Practice Empathy
Practice empathy by putting yourself in your employees’ shoes and trying to understand them. Your feedback will be received well if you deliver it with empathy, as employees will know the critique is meant to help them improve. Exercising empathy before providing feedback eliminates guilt and puts you in a better place to communicate openly.
- Prepare Adequately
Before providing feedback, it is best to take time and adequately prepare what you want to tell your subordinates and how you want to say it. You can be indirect and use a good tone to provide feedback to an underperforming employee who is doing better in other areas. You can be direct to an underperforming employee who has received warnings in the past but is still performing poorly. Preparation makes you ready for anything.
- Be Specific
Beating around the bush is highly discouraged when providing feedback. As a general rule of thumb, you should be very specific when delivering feedback to employees. Identify a specific issue and address it directly. Also, state its effects and share its impacts on the organization and the individual’s career. Being more clear and direct eliminates room for misinterpretation.
- Use Inquiry
It is important to set aside time for inquiry when providing feedback. You can use inquiry at the beginning or end of the conversation. In the beginning, ask the recipient about their opinion on the issue. In the end, ask them about the feedback and how it has affected them.
- Dwell on the Future
After delivering the feedback, turn the focus of the conversation to what will happen after. Inform the recipient how they can become better in the future and how the two of you can work together to avoid future issues.
Although providing feedback can be stressful, you should always do it. It will help you become a great leader and enable your employees to grow.
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How the Next Generation is Reshaping Philanthropy
Everyone dreams of becoming a philanthropist. The next generation of philanthropists influences how people think about and act on their charitable donations. With the help of technology and global connectivity, the next generation of donors is more mobile, more digitally savvy, and more focused on impact than previous generations.
Ways in which the Next Generation Is Changing Philanthropy
1. Redefining what it means to be an upper-class member.
The next generation is rejecting the idea that they need to have significant wealth to be able to give back or that they should wait until they’re wealthy before they can contribute.
They also reject traditional notions of philanthropy and instead view giving back as an integral part of their everyday life.
2. Crowdfunding Their Giving
They are leading a movement to change how giving happens in society by crowdfunding charitable projects. This means that they turn to the internet and other social media platforms to raise money for their causes. It also means that these young people use their creativity and passion to launch innovative campaigns that show their personalities.
3. Impact Investing
They want their money to make a measurable impact on society for future generations, and they’re going about it differently from previous generations.
This is called impact investing. As an alternative to more traditional investments like stocks, bonds, or real estate, they are putting their money into socially-responsible companies that make positive changes in society.
4. Driving Charitable Giving
They donate through social media channels like GoFundMe, crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo or Kickstarter, nonprofits like GiveForward, and donating times through their smartwatches.
5. Changing How Philanthropy Is Funded
The research organizations are based on how much good they do and how those organizations benefit people in need worldwide. The next generation is rapidly changing how charitable giving works, especially what causes deserve funding and which groups should receive it.
The next generation of donors is reshaping philanthropy, and these changes have the power to transform the way nonprofits do business. The next generation of donors is more mobile and more digitally savvy, making it easy to give to causes they care about most. Nonprofits can also take advantage of this by creating mobile-friendly websites and social media platforms. This will help nonprofits connect with the next generation of donors, but it will also increase their impact on society.
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How to Run More Effective Meetings
Effective meetings are important for any organization because they help provide a sense of control and can prevent confusion and chaos from setting in. Meetings should be held regularly and include clearly defined goals, agendas, leaders, and appropriate levels of participation. Here are five tips for running effective meetings to help reach the organization’s productivity potential.
1. Have a Clear Goal
The first step to running an effective meeting is to have a clear goal. For example, it could be moving forward with a project, updating a policy, providing feedback, or achieving a decision. This objective is crucial because it motivates to keep coming back.
2. Develop an Agenda
The next step is to develop an agenda that covers what will happen in each meeting segment. The plan should include who will prepare the topics, how long each topic will take and who will lead the discussion. A good way to set up the plan is to start with a broad topic and subdivide it into more minor subjects and categories. This helps break it down so it’s easier to understand.
3. Develop a Leader
Another key component to running an effective meeting is to develop leaders. This step is important because it helps prevent confusion when a topic moves from one person to another. A leader, in this case, can be the person who is leading the discussion, such as a facilitator or someone who takes notes.
4. Have Clear Participation Levels
Once the goals and plan are set, there’s a need to decide how much participation each person will need for their opinion to be heard. This can be done either by letting them know ahead of time or allowing them to participate when appropriate. For example, if a meeting is to discuss what needs to happen for a new product to be released, the people involved will have input if they have any ideas about the product.
5. Set a Time Limit
Set a time limit for each session once the meeting is planned. This is important because it prevents people from going over their time limit or leaving early. A good rule of thumb is to allow at least 30 minutes for each segment.
For effective meetings, it is crucial to develop an agenda that includes the topics and leaders, choose a time limit for each session, and set a wide range of participation levels that can be used when appropriate. These steps will help make meetings go smoothly.
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