Kurt Blazek

Kurt Blazek

Leadership Inspiration: 4 Quotes from Mad Men’s Don Draper

As the hit TV show Mad Men comes to an end, here is a look back at some of the more memorable and inspirational quotes that come from the show’s main character Don Draper. Sure, Don has issues with adultery, alcohol, and his own identity. So, yeah, on a personal level, he’s basically morally corrupt. But as a business leader, he’s actually quite successful. Just look at the team he has developed over the years—particularly up-and-coming star writer Peggy Olson. As displayed in her character’s growth throughout the show, one of Don’s skills is to see talent and help it develop to its potential. Plus he can also incite (in a good way) and inspire his team.

5 Activities for Team-Building Outside of the Office

High-performing teams don’t just happen. They require cultivation. The right people with the right skills, the right habits, good communication. And trust. Trust is one of the most important components to a well-functioning team. One way to grow it is through team-building exercises.

For some, the mere mention of team-building exercises elicits groans, eye rolls, and pessimism. But team-building exercises don’t have to be the same tired old ice-breakers, trust falls, or role-playing games. There are many different avenues to build trust—often at off-site venues. Here are a few ideas.

6 Tips to Reduce Negativity in the Office

Just a small amount of poison can make an entire lake toxic, and the same can be true when it comes to negativity in the workplace. You might have experienced this in your own office—one pessimist, one whiner, one complainer, or one troublemaker can infect the attitudes of an entire team or even department. And, because those behaviors are often perceived as inherent and unalterable personality traits, they go unchecked. But that’s an assumption that can have damaging results, including declining morale, decreased productivity, disengagement, and ultimately, turnover. It’s best to determine a solution to the behavior as soon as possible.

Leading 360 Feedback Provider TBC, Redefines the Value of Partnership

The Booth Company (TBC), a global assessment company with over 4 decades of experience, specializing in 360s and survey customization, has unveiled a new Reseller Partnership Program that bridges the divide between Leadership Development Consultants and the validated 360 solutions that their customers demand.

Based on early and strong demand, this program appears to be the long awaited answer for the many consultancies that need quick access to a validated 360 solution that is price competitive and ready to launch. This program is simple, has a low cost of entry and it’s powered by TBC’s industry leading assessments and their cutting-edge survey hosting platform, TruScore.

What Mad Men Can Teach Us About the Importance of Diversity

AMC’s popular series Mad Men started its final season this past weekend and although fictional, depicts some of the realities around a lack of diversification in the workplace during the 1960s. The agency is led and largely staffed by Caucasian men; the few women (also Caucasian) in the office are generally part of the typing pool or some other lower-level (read: nonparticipatory) position. Although fictional, the agency portrayed is actually pretty spot-on when it comes to how business was run half a century ago. And while we might be able to say that in the intervening 50+ years we’ve vastly progressed as a country in terms of diversifying the workplace, we still have some work to do, particularly when it comes to company leadership—according to a report done by McKinsey & Company, companies with greater diversity in their leadership rankings were more likely to be in the top quartile in terms of financial performance.

Tips for a Smooth Transition into a Leadership Role

You got that promotion you've been gunning for—which means that someone was impressed by how you performed in your previous role. But it doesn't mean that you get to just sit back on your laurels and enjoy the fatter paycheck. Instead, it means you now are beginning the work of transitioning from one role you did well to a new role that most likely requires new skills. And it probably means that now you’re supervising the people who were recently your peers. Here are some tips to help make your transition as smooth as possible.

TBC releases the next evolution in its Survey Hosting Platform TruScore®

The Booth Company (TBC), a global assessment company with over 4 decades of experience, specializing in 360 degree feedback and survey customization, has launched its much anticipated TruScore 3.0, the next evolution in cloud-based survey solutions.

This completely redesigned version of TruScore® is a survey hosting platform developed to make the process of setting up and executing an assessment project quick and easy; from initial project creation and automated invitations/reminders to progress tracking and report delivery. The newly developed enhancements include flexible automated features to fit all administrator needs regardless of experience. The updates to TruScore® are based on our client’s recommendations and were designed to provide significant administrative time savings from start to finish.

A Few Characteristics of Good Sales Leaders

At the top level, sales-based companies are necessarily metrics-focused, driven by tangible results. With numbers as the ultimate deliverables, that thinking can pervade the approach some sales leaders use in managing their teams. However, if that’s all they focus on as leaders, it can be a sure way to stunt rather than encourage growth. The managers who help their teams see greater success share some additional approaches and traits.

Good leaders—in any organization, sales or otherwise—are often characterized by the talent they hire. Identifying and drawing good candidates sets the foundation for good teams, and the best leaders surround themselves with the best. Even more, they are able to engage and retain those employees, creating a more solid, substantial team.

Leading 360 Degree Feedback Provider TBC Launches Newly Designed Website

The Booth Company (TBC), a global assessment company with over 4 decades of experience, specializing in 360 degree feedback and survey customization, announces the launch of its newly designed website, at https://www.truscore.com.

The new website has been redesigned to be more contemporary, keeping in tune with today’s web trends while providing information about TBCs offerings. “The latest evolution of The Booth Company’s website was designed to simplify the visitor’s experience by giving them the information they seek quickly. We have done away with needless marketing jargon keeping the content concise and to the point. The site structure has also been simplified reducing the number of clicks and pages associated with a specific product and/or service.” said Kurt Blazek, Design Director for TBC. “We hope the new approach will be a better experience for our visitors.”