5 ways executives can improve their business over the summer

Summer, with its slower work and nicer weather, offers a particular opportunity to executives, according to Brian Kropp, an HR practice leader at Gartner. Between Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the Fourth of July, executives are given at least three free days off to step back and reevaluate their business. Summertime is a great time to brainstorm how to make yourself and your exploratory essay sample better, and then implement those tactics in Q3 and Q4.

Here are five ways executives can improve their businesses over the summer:

1. Take time off

You have vacation time for a reason, so use it! Sometimes removing yourself from a stressful situation helps you to better see the overall picture. Both Carroll and Kropp agreed: Time off is vital to executives.

"Coming back gives you this different view of the organization, and you appreciate it a little bit differently," said Carroll. Returning to the office with fresh eyes can also give you new ideas for the coming year.

Additionally, "the decisions and behavior that you engage in as a leader send a signal to your teams and your workforce about they should be doing as well," said Kropp. If an executive is spending their summer drowning in work instead of spending any time with family, that is the precedent they are setting to the rest of the team. Yes, work is important, but so is a manageable work/life balance, Kropp said. Model your behavior on how you want your company culture to be.

2. Team building events

Summer is a great time to bring the team together. Executives usually spend most of their time in private offices behind closed doors, missing frequent interaction with their staff. Promoting a sense of community in the office is intrinsic to healthy team functionality, so it's important that those efforts start from the top.
"The bonding and the rapport that you can build with people you may not spend a lot of time with normally is extremely important to the organization," Carroll said. "It also reflects well on the organization, as a whole, where you still can portray that family-type feel to the employees who are really the ones that are keeping the lights on."

However, executives need to remember their audience, and be thoughtful about the activities they choose for their team, Kropp said. "You got an opportunity to do it, but [the activity] has to be the right one for the workforce that you got, and you need to pick things that people feel comfortable about doing," he added.

3. Learn from others

Bring new management strategies to your office by getting an outside opinion. Carroll and Kropp recommended visiting a symposium or a speaker focused on your industry. Learn how other business professionals organize their workforce and connect with their teams.

Good leaders evolve and change over time. Putting blinders on and always using the same management style not only burns out the executive, but also may not be effective for every employee. Speakers tour more during the summer months, with it being a slower season. Search the web for upcoming events in your industry and city. Even business leaders have room to learn.

4. Read

No, not your email. Whether it is fiction, a magazine, the newspaper, read something that isn't directly related to your daily work. Carroll suggested taking time during the summer to go outdoors and read something for fun. Occupy your brain with literature other than press releases, work documents, or contracts. Not only will you be happier for it, but reading other materials also gives you something non-work related to discuss with your coworkers, and draw ideas from.

5. Try out new tech

"Summer is the time to experiment," said Kropp. Summertime is ideal for trying out new technologies, because you can declare a definitive end point. You can designate Labor Day as the end of summer, Kropp suggested, and try out a new program until that time. Even if you test a technology that doesn't end up working for your company, the slower summer months are a much better time to find out, instead of a hectic Q4. You may also discover a technology that helps your company operate smoother—perhaps one you learned about from a symposium or new book.

How Can We Stop CyberBullying and Help Prevent It?

 Parents you can help stop cyberbullying.  No, I am not saying stop everything that you are doing, and find out where the person lives, so you can go be mother bear to your cub.  What I am saying is we have to teach our children what they need to be doing in these circumstances.  We should be teaching our children how to act.  Our children mimic our ways, even if we do not want them to, trust me they do! 

So How Can Our Kids Stop Cyberbullying?

For the Kids & Teens

It is Not Your Fault

A lot of kids tend to think it is their fault why they are bullied, maybe they did something wrong, or not able to wear the right clothes or shoes.  Bullying is NEVER your fault, our children need to know this.  They need to understand that it is wrong!  They also need to know the difference between an argument between them and a friend, and bullying.

Always Save The Conversation

With one advantage of cyberbullying, it is easier to save and screenshot evidence of the bullying.  Always save your evidence and DO NOT be scared to go to an adult you trust for help!

Do Not Respond To Get Revenge

This is what bullies are looking for.  They want to see you mad and upset!  Do not give them the power they are looking for which also makes you a bully, which we are trying to stop completely.  If you can change the subject or completely remove yourself from the conversation that is the best way to take charge.  Do not enable the one bullying, it only makes things worse.

Use Your Social Media Tools That You Are Given For Free

Most social media sites allow you to block people, make your page private, etc.  Take advantage of this!  Parents YOU can help, help your child make their social media only available to those whom you and your child agree on!  Work together!

Speak Up

Be strong, be confident, and be the BIGGER person!  Speak up!  Tell someone, whether it be your best friend, your mom, your dad, brother or sister.  Someone needs to know!  It will never make you feel less of a person, I promise, just let someone know.  The only person that will feel less of a person is the one bullying you

For Our Parents 

If Your Child Comes To You, You Are Lucky

Just know that a lot of kids won’t tell parents, nor close friends about bullying.  They keep it all inside which can cause Depression which can lead to teen suicide or in recent reports, elementary school aged suicide.  This is becoming more common as the days go by.  We can stop this epidemic, but we need help from both sides. If you are reading this more than likely you have kids.  Just know, the older they get the more they hide.  Not intentionally most of the time.  A lot of times they are embarrassed to talk about certain topics.  The closer you stay to your child, and the more open you are to them, they will be open to you.  We cannot keep our children in the dark or sheltered forever.  I have seen this too many times, where sheltered kids have no clue what drinking can do, what sex can do just one time, they have no clue what rap is.  I KNOW people like this, I refuse tokeep my child sheltered from the world.  She needs to know what crime is out there, the sick maniacs, she needs to watch the news of the bombings, she needs to know there are kids starving to death in other countries. There comes a point where our children need to know the reality’s of life, and what could happen, what has happened, and could even happen to them.

Two Sides To Every Story

Although we know our children’s side is as sincere as possible, we must also remember there s always another child involved, which includes another family not just yours.  You must always have open minds when going into this situation.  Children/kids/teens get into arguments with best friends/friends.  We need to make sure what is being said is actually correct before anything drastic is taken place.  Remember going into this make sure you have thoroughly thought this out before making it public where more kids know about, and this could make it worse on your child.

Hear Your Child Out

It is so important that if your child comes to you, listen.  Listen to everything, make sure they know you are listening, and you are wiling to help.  Make sure you ask questions, reassure them this will be taken care of, and they will be ok.  The first step to healing is the one person they trust to go to and tell, actually listens to them, and helps resolve the situation.

Just remember sometimes kids just need to deal with situations on there own, of course depending on the circumstances.  A lot of times our children just want the best writers to know we are here for them, and no matter what we are there if they need us!.  Whether it be bullying or Cyberbullying, its the same thing.  It has to be stopped.  We know there will always be immature and cruel people in this world, but if we can teach our children the right way to handle certain situations, it could get a lot better.  Know your child, know the signs, make sure they know they can trust you.  Until next time my friends.