Welcome to Merge's Monthly Mega Minute - a bite-sized, yet substantial and practical, nugget of information that you can use immediately to enhance your professional and personal success.

Perfect is the enemy of good

There are at least six different routes I can take to get from my home to the airport. One is on a highway and it’s the fastest, particularly during rush hour traffic, but it has a toll fee. Another is also on a highway, but at peak times, it’s often bumper-to-bumper and moving slowly. The others go through an assortment of neighbourhoods with different marked speeds and varying number of stoplights and playground zones. They all get me to where I need to go.

There really isn’t a perfect route to take. It’s just a matter of what’s more important for me to minimize – the time, the cost or the aggravation. My eventual choice comes down what my priorities are and how I balance the trade offs. And those priorities can shift from day to day, sometimes even hour to hour.

Which is useful to consider when making decisions. Usually, there are several methods by which you can achieve the outcome you desire. But there is rarely a perfect solution. It comes down to considering your priorities and weighing off the benefits and disadvantages of each possibility. Sometimes your priorities will shift quickly. And when that happens, so should your preferred option. It is rare that you will find the “right” answer; usually it’s only the “best” answer given the current circumstances.

So it’s important to stop seeking the perfect solution. It’s an elusive target that never gives you a return on your investment of energy and time. Instead, your goal should be good decisions – ones that have articulated your priorities and then considered the pros and cons of the alternatives.

Well? I’d love to hear from you about your successes and struggles in trying to make good decisions. Have you faced the enemy called “perfect”? How have you gotten past it? Please share your experiences directly on the blog at www.turningmanagersintoleaders.com/blog.

Virtual learning – just in time and just what you need!

From crisis comes opportunity.  When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  You’ve heard them all.  And the COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst that allowed Merge to help make this true for several of our clients.  Their staff needed training, in a hurry.  And Merge developed several new programs to help employees working from home to cope with the new normal.  Is “working from home” working out for you? and Leading from afar – the new normal in the world of work were just two of the new customized virtual learning programs Merge designed and delivered for pandemic times.  If your team needs support to thrive in the new normal, please contact us to explore the possibilities.

Turning Managers into Leaders

• Video: To overcome procrastination, "go public". Do you want to overcome procrastination? "Going public" is an easy-to-implement tip that is surprisingly successful. Try it!
• Virtual leadership requires that you shift from process to results. Successful virtual leadership isn’t just about your employees, it’s also about making a mental shift yourself. And moving from process to results can be difficult.
• Straight roads do not make skillful drivers – the importance of continuous learning. If A quote by Paulo Coelho inspires this blog post about the importance and value of continuous learning in the workplace.

That Merge has a YouTube channel chock-full of useful leadership tips?

Developing and growing your employees, motivating employees, leading change, leading virtual employees, and several other series on a variety of topics that are important to leaders, all in easy actionable tips, each about 2 minutes or less. Available to you 24-7, and at no charge! The easiest way to access this valuable collection of video strategies is directly from our site. Go to our Videos page in our Free Tool section and you'll see short descriptions and links to all Merge's video series. Or subscribe to Merge's YouTube channel and you'll get notified every time a new video is posted, which often happens even before they're even announced to the public!

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