Making it a Reality

Between working on client stuff, meeting new potential clients, writing a book which has been quite an enlightening and soul searching process, and trying to figure out what this thing called life means, I've been approached to submit a proposal to speak at a TEDx event early next year. No humblebragging here, straight up, this is a huge honor.

The audience will be university students, professors, and guests. The theme of the day is theory to reality. At first I thought about the fact every company started with an idea. There are none that started without one, which is the theory.

Then the work begins...

But I think it happens more often than we realize. It might have happened to you today. An idea came to mind, you acted on it, boom it became a reality. So we may not want to minimize these moments as they can lead to the big things.

The other element I keep thinking about is kids and the chances they have as they embark on their journey of discovery and potentially a handful of different career paths. This lead me to Kiran Bir Sethi who is the founder Riverside School in India which teaches kids life’s most valuable lesson: I can. That's something we know-it-all scared adults seem to forget.

Watch this!


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

People + Priority

If you have ever experienced a true open environment it can be exciting - yet to some - chaotic. And because most don't want chaos, they choose to keep things nice and neat and departmentalized. They may like being a boss everyone obeys. But we know the flaws in that model are vast.

The perception of losing focus or control can block potential for significant growth in your organization and the careers of each person inside it. If ideas aren't shared, department walls get higher and silos deepen.

Org Chart vs Reality

The position of Chairperson, CEO or President may appear to be at the top of the company chart. But it's actually in the middle. This is the person who sets the tone; makes the big decisions that could affect the workload of everyone else. It can be a very busy place.

She must answer to the owners, shareholders, investors, customers, employees and the public. If a company relies solely on her decisions, millions or even billions can hang in the balance.

Good idea vs Let them try

A former boss taught me about reversed delegation. This is where someone suggests a half-baked idea and you try to run with it. This neither encourages their further thought nor helps you with what you want to accomplish. Push it back on their plate and see what happens. The challenge for leaders who want a successful business is to make their people their absolute top priority.

Let's keep trying!
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Giving Away Experience

To anyone’s measurement, Pablo Picasso was one of the most talented artists of all time. His complicated life mixed with inspired work continues to make him a fascinating subject to study and learn about.

Pablo and a friend were having lunch one day and one of the other patrons recognized the great master. After some hesitatation, she approached him with a napkin. She asked Picasso if he would take a moment and do a quick drawing for her.

He said it would cost one million dollars.

Shocked, she questioned why a simple drawing would be that much. Picasso replied that it took him thirty years to perfect his talent and it is not free.

We shouldn't put a price on every moment of the day, and none of us is Picasso, but we should be careful not to always give away our experience simply because it would take just a minute to share it.

Got a napkin?
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Cut Your List in Half

I was chatting with a good friend this week and we were discussing what each of us was working on, wanting to do, and numerous ideas and dreams. She recounted a story about helping her daughter with a list that was getting too big. She took the list and wrote down two items.

She then told her daughter to do one of the items and come back to her. Her daughter did it and she told her daughter she had cut her list in half. She then added one more item and they repeated the process several times.

It’s brilliant and simple!

We mean well but are we really going to accomplish several dozen tasks? We humans seem to be pretty good a making lists – mentally and literally. I want to finish my book, connect with new clients, complete that customer project, travel more, etc etc etc. But I’ve begun making lists of two’s. Then cutting my list in half and doing one. Then adding another and so on. Try it with your team. Try it with your family.

Busy is a victim word we all use. Look at ways of cutting your list of two in half then repeat. Over time you may notice some items on the long list shouldn't be there at all as you really have no intention of doing them. So try it today and cut your list in half.

Email me and we can discuss how I can help.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

13 Ways to Improve as a Leader

• Stop hiding behind email
• Don’t avoid difficult conversations and have them with respect and compassion
• Keep meetings to 30 minutes and on topic
• Allow all voices to be heard
• Be clear on expectations
• Don’t play favorites
• Encourage new ideas and don't keep people in boxes
• Be of service to your team/department/company; not the other way around
• Allow creativity to flourish
• Don’t evade conflict
• Remember every person on the team is just as important as any other person
• Hold yourself and others accountable
• Show up when things get difficult

I can help you with all of these. Send me an email - knealemann@gmail.com - and we can book a 30-minute complimentary call.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

We Aren't Born with Fear

Running a business is hard work and eyes on the revenue line must be constant. Our perspective is often the single reason we have conflict instead of collaboration.

Raghava KK is an artist who has gone through a lot in his life but has retained his childlike spirit. He explains in his TEDTalk that we need to shake up our ideas.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Is Happy Work Possible?

There aren’t usually many surprises whenever I see an employee survey. Most (all) of us want to be compensated fairly, enjoy a collaborative work environment, and have the ability to advance within the organization.

Are those the things that make us happy at work?

Dan Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics who explains some of the elements that make us happy or unhappy at work.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Stuck Why Stuck

As I work on my new book on leadership, culture, and how we get stuck, I was sifting through notes and files and old posts. This one struck a chord. I wrote it five years ago and it still rings true.

= = =

A friend sent me a copy of Rick Butts’ e-book 7 Choices. In it, he talks about the time we work on us versus the time we work on what we do or getting customers or what we can offer. In 1943, Abraham Maslow outlined our need to belong in his paper The Hierarchy of Needs.

No matter your age or situation, you want your life to have purpose and passion. That is the core of why we may get stuck – we aren’t following either. We haven’t deciphered who we are and what drives our passion. All too often we seek external confirmation.

So why do we get stuck?

Is it because no one will help us realize our passion and purpose? Or is it that we haven’t discovered it inside us in order to tell people what we want?

Years ago, a friend gave me a copy of The Secret. I watched the first half of the film with my closed mind and arms folded and the second half taking notes. It wasn't the message, it was what we do with it. Intention, attraction, and most importantly action doesn't happen on its own. But finding what we want is more than half the battle.

We need action and focus. We are human. We get stuck. We fall into the same traps of listening to the opinions of naysayers. We fail to listen to that pang in deep in our gut. If you haven't experience this, count yourself very fortunate. That is extremely rare.

Help Is On The Way

Does this mean we shouldn’t discover people we trust to help us navigate this journey? Ask the most successful people on the planet if they get stuck and you will get a resounding – YES!

None of us is immune. But if someone asks you to help them get unstuck, forget their resume or the past and listen to what they need. If you do, magic will happen for both of you. Getting unstuck requires help and asking for it is our first step. If you're feeling stuck, let's chat.

Shoot me an email and let's chat!
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Dylan Mahalingam Changed the World

I can't do him justice. He will blow you away. Here's the blurb they wrote about him on the website Mother Nature Network.

At the ripe age of 9, Dylan Mahalingam co-founded Lil' MDGs, a nonprofit international development and youth empowerment organization and an initiative of Jayme's Fund. Lil' MDGs mission is to leverage the power of the digital media to engage children in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

His organization has mobilized more than 3 million children around the globe to work on a variety of issues, with more than 24,000 regular volunteers hailing from 41 countries. Dylan is a youth speaker for the United Nations as well as a chief strategist and project ambassador for Under the Acacia. The recipient of numerous international and national honors.

Dylan is now 15 years old and a sophomore at Pinkerton Academy in New Hampshire. Here is his 2010 TEDTalk.

Watch, get inspired, then let's get to work.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!